Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has been a controversial figure since being elected to Congress. Within weeks of his November win, Democrats were demanding an investigation into the freshman Congressman over his largely made-up biography (never mind the fact that they apparently hadn’t bothered to delve into these charges prior to his election).
The New York Times had a lengthy breakdown of Santos’ biography, and almost all of it seems to be fake, if the Times reporting is anything to be believed. I have no reason to suspect it is a fake report, because while it does expose a Republican, the fact of the matter is that the Democrats were so unbelievably horrible at their jobs in this one that it makes them look worse than Santos.
The fact that the Times has unearthed all this information (which, for the record, Santos’ camp denies) is a hilarious indictment of the Democrats’ own opposition research capabilities. This is a guy whose entire biography seems to be fake, and no one in the Democrats’ camp had any clue? That’s amazing.
After the initial denials, Santos admitted that, yes, in fact, many of his claims regarding his work experience, education, and heritage were fabricated. Democrats immediately demanded his resignation, but Santos declined to do so, though he did ultimately step down from his committee assignments.
In February, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) confirmed that Santos was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Then, of course, there was the infamous tussle with Utah Senator Mitt Romney after the State of the Union Address, in which Romney reportedly called Santos a “sick puppy.”
In May, Santos was indicted on federal charges, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making material false statements to the House of Representatives, and one count of theft of public funds.
Since then, things have been relatively quiet on the Santos front. He appeared for a status conference in court in late June, and a next hearing date was set for early September.
On Monday, however, Santos’ fellow New York Congressman, Ritchie Torres, announced he was introducing a resolution to publicly censure Santos.
I am introducing a resolution to publicly censure George Santos for defrauding the people of the United States.
I have a message to House Republicans who, for too long, have been protecting Mr. Santos, who has disgraced the United States Congress.
Stop treating Mr. Santos as… pic.twitter.com/ZOjQhv6hrr
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) July 17, 2023
Said Torres:
I am introducing a resolution to publicly censure George Santos for defrauding the people of the United States.
I have a message to House Republicans who, for too long, have been protecting Mr. Santos, who has disgraced the United States Congress.
Stop treating Mr. Santos as untouchable. The time has come for Congress to hold him accountable.
Torres then followed that tweet with one posting a copy of the resolution.
JUST NOW: My resolution to censure George Santos has been officially introduced.
Santos must be held publicly accountable for defrauding and disgracing the United States Congress. pic.twitter.com/vld9hTlpZ3
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) July 17, 2023
Torres’ resolution comes less than a month after Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) was censured by the House for abusing his position on the Intelligence Committee and “misleading the American public and for conduct unbecoming of an elected Member of the House of Representatives.” Schiff is also being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for “falsehoods, misrepresentations, and abuses of sensitive information.”
It is not yet clear when the resolution regarding Santos will be taken up. However, a vote can be forced.
The privilege resolution provides Rep. Torres the ability to force a floor vote on censuring Rep. Santos within two legislative business days and would only require a simple majority to pass. Under House rules, censure is a disciplinary action reserved for “more-serious violations”.
Torres, along with fellow Democrats Dan Goldman (NY), Robert Garcia (CA), and Ted Lieu (CA), is also calling for a report from the Ethics Committee.
