U.S. Rep. Michael Guest, left, and U.S. Rep. George Santos
In the wake of the House Ethics Committee releasing its report saying there is substantial evidence that he has violated federal law, New York Republican George Santos announced Thursday, Nov. 16, that he won’t be running for re-election to Congress. Apparentlty, however, that isn’t soon enough for the House Ethic Committee’s Republican chair. filed a resolution to force a vote on expelling Rep.
Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., filed a resolution today (Friday, Nov. 17) to force a vote on expelling Santos, saying, “The evidence uncovered in the Ethics Committee’s Investigative Subcommittee investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment, is expulsion.”
Guest stressed that he is filing the expulsion resolution separate from the committee process and is “doing so in his personal capacity as a member of the House,” according to PBS, which also noted that “several other members of the Ethics panel have also come out in favor of expulsion now that the investigation is complete.”
Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds vote, PBS explains. It is the sternest form of punishment available to the House and has happened only five times so far in history.
Santos is facing a 23-count indictment accusing him of an array of corruption, including 10 felony counts that federal prosecutors added last month. Santos’ campaign fundraiser Samuel Miele, who had previously identified himself as the chief of staff for former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of wire fraud earlier this week (Tuesday, Nov. 14). And Santos former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty last month to a series of charges, including conspiring with a congressional candidate to commit wire fraud.
Other New York Republicans attempted late last month to have Santos thrown out of the House, but the vote on their resolution failed primarily because several lawmakers said they wanted to wait and see what the House Ethics Committee’s investigation turned up. After that vote on Nov. 1, Santos a photo of himself wearing a gold crown, warning, “If you come for me, you best not miss.” Shortly afterwards, he deleted that post replacing it with one claiming the vote had been “a victory for due process now me. This was never about me, and I’ll never let it become about me. We all have rights under this great Constitutional Republica and I’ll fight for our right to uphold them till my last dying breath.”
— Tammye Nash
