Speaker Johnson, Bring Dignity Back to the House of Representatives!
It’s high time that Representative George Santos goes. He must be Expelled!
George Santos
Today, the House Ethics Committee released a SCATHING report which listed numerous details of Santa’s misusing campaign funds, illegally collecting and reporting campaign funds.
This report reveals where Santa’s collected campaign funds, then had the funds transferred, or deposited outright, into his personal banking account. He then went to receive his BOTOX treatments, or took lavish trios to Atlantic City, with his HUSBAND, or, visited sex shops spending thousands of dollars.
Here is the section on the “FINDINGS”:
On November 14, 2023, the Committee unanimously voted to adopt the Report of the Investigative Subcommittee (ISC), which is enclosed as Appendix A. The Committee also unanimously voted, pursuant to Committee Rule 28, to refer to the Department of Justice (DOJ) substantial evidence that Representative Santos: knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for
personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his
Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House.
Amid a deferral request from DOJ and Representative Santos’ obfuscation and delay, the ISC expeditiously compiled a voluminous record consisting of over 170,000 pages of documents and testimony from dozens of witnesses, including financial statements, contemporaneous communications, and other materials. That record demonstrated the breadth of Representative Santos’ misconduct. As discussed in the ISC’s Report:
Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of
his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.
He blatantly stole from his campaign.
He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit.
He reported fictitious loans to his political committees to induce donors and party committees to make further contributions to his campaign – and then diverted more campaign money to himself as purported “repayments” of those fictitious loans.
He used his connections to high value donors and other political campaigns to obtain additional funds for himself through fraudulent or otherwise questionable business dealings.
And he sustained all of this through a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff about his background and experience.(1)
Representative Santos continues to flout his statutory financial disclosure obligations and has failed to correct countless errors and omissions in his past FD Statements, despite being repeatedly reminded by the ISC and the Committee of his requirement to do so.
The ISC also found that, despite his attempts to blame others for much of the misconduct, Representative Santos was a knowing and active participant in the wrongdoing. Particularly troubling was Representative Santos’ lack of candor during the investigation itself.
At the outset of the review, Representative Santos was given an opportunity, pursuant to Committee Rule 17(b), to submit a signed written statement responding to the allegations raised in a complaint filed by his fellow Members; he did not do so. The ISC requested that he provide all documents and information responsive to its Request for Information; he did not do so. The ISC asked him to voluntarily testify; he did not do so. The ISC also provided him the opportunity, pursuant to Committee Rule 19(b)(3), to provide a statement under oath, but he did not do so. Representative Santos’ repeated public statements that he would like to prove his innocence and is cooperating with the ISC’s investigation are belied by his consistent failure to meaningfully
cooperate with the ISC’s review.
The ISC and the Committee have now completed their review of the allegations and charges and have amassed overwhelming evidence of his misconduct. This evidence is summarized in the ISC’s Report.(2)
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(1) ISC Report at 4.
(2) Consistent with Committee Rule 25, the Report includes any evidence that could be considered substantially
favorable to Representative Santos.
II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
On November 9, 2023, the ISC transmitted a Report to the Committee summarizing its findings, which include substantial evidence that Representative Santos violated federal criminal laws and other standards of conduct within the Committee’s jurisdiction. Based on the unique and unprecedented circumstances in this case, the ISC unanimously determined that the Committee’s
duty to safeguard the integrity of the House and the interests of justice warranted the immediate disclosure of its findings and recommended that the Committee refer evidence to DOJ. The ISC
further recommended that the Committee adopt its Report and publicly condemn Representative Santos for his conduct, which the ISC found to be beneath the dignity of the office and to have brought severe discredit upon the House.
The ISC was in regular contact with DOJ to ensure that its investigation did not unduly interfere with the ongoing prosecution of Representative Santos. Those communications led the ISC to delay its review at multiple stages of the investigation and to forgo certain investigative steps.
The Committee agreed with the ISC’s recommendation that these findings should be disclosed immediately, and evidence referred to DOJ. The Committee’s referral to DOJ includes
evidence of alleged violations beyond those Representative Santos is currently charged with in the pending criminal matter. Committee and House Rules provide a process by which the ISC can
bring formal charges through a Statement of Alleged Violations, which would then be subject to a lengthy trial-like public adjudication and sanctions hearing by the Committee, after which the Committee can make a recommendation to the full House. Given Representative Santos’ failure to meaningfully engage with the Committee to date, proceeding with that adjudicatory process would only provide Representative Santos with further opportunity to delay any accountability for
his actions and could risk interfering with the ongoing criminal prosecution. The ISC thus chose to report its findings to the Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 19(g), and the Committee has decided to send that Report to the full House, pursuant to Committee Rule 21(a).
The Committee encourages all Members of the House to carefully read the ISC’s Report, which details grave and pervasive campaign finance violations and fraudulent activity by Representative Santos, and take any action they deem appropriate and necessary, based on the ISC’s findings, to fulfill the House’s Constitutional mandate to police the conduct of its Members.
III. STATEMENT UNDER HOUSE RULE XIII, CLAUSE 3(C)
The Committee made no special oversight findings in this Report. No budget statement is submitted. No funding is authorized by any measure in this Report.
As we all know, Santos has been charged with over 20 felony counts in New York dealing with his campaign funds, which he has pleaded “Not Guilty” to all counts. But, the over 1700 pages of evidence, investigation, sworn statements, etc the Ethics Committee have amassed over this investigation are being turned over to the DOJ. According to the report from the Ethics Committee, numerous additional charges are expected to be filed against Santos from the evidence and sworn statements they will be receiving from the Committee.
The Ethics Committee is also referring the report and evidence to the House for “whatever action they deem necessary” for all the “Rules of Conduct” Santos has violated, and the “Shame he has brought upon the House of Representatives.”
Needless to say, this report doesn’t look good at all for Santos. It needs to be noted that the Committee did, on numerous occasions during the investigation, give Santos the opportunity to come forward before the Committee and give his evidence/proof that these allegations, charges, were in fact false.
The Committee, on numerous occasions, contacted Santos and asked him to come and show the evidence he had that proved, as he was saying to the public, that all of the charges against him were false, and the additional evidence collected by the Committee was also false. Santos refused to present any evidence proving the allegations, and charges, were false. Santos refused to respond to the Committee each time.
So, in light of this SCATHING report, I, a citizen of the United States of America, am calling on Speaker Johnson to bring charges against Representative George Santos, and EXPEL HIM from the House of Representatives forthwith, and immediately.
This person is not fit to serve in the House of Representatives!
Numerous Republican Representatives who voted before not to expel Santos have made comment that they were waiting on the Ethics Committee’s report. Well, folks, this report spells it out pretty clear.
Santos needs to go!
As well as Senator Bob Menendez. #LeaderSchumer
No wonder we can’t have anything nice.
I hope that enough people will come to reason before it’s too late.