Santos will not run for another term following a scathing report on ethical misconduct.
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The House Ethics Committee has released a report detailing the actions of freshman congressman, Representative George Santos from New York, and a new motion has been filed to remove him from office.
The investigation determined that the individual, age 35, had breached ethical guidelines, House rules, and criminal laws. It was also discovered that they were aware of their actions being in violation.
The Chairman of the House Ethics panel, Republican Representative Michael Guest from Mississippi, submitted a motion on Friday. The chamber will consider the motion on November 28th when lawmakers return from their Thanksgiving recess.
After announcing that he will not run for re-election in 2024, he stated that he is being targeted by underhanded political tactics.
Mr Santos announced on X that he will not be running for a second term in 2024 because he believes his family deserves better than constantly being under scrutiny from the media.
He subsequently expressed discontent about enduring a challenging year and asserted that he has been harmed by the unethical behavior of the ethics committee.
Expressing regret, he stated that his intention was solely to “serve my nation” through his candidacy for Congress and that he believed his “privileges” had been unjustly removed from him.
On November 16, 2023, the individual has announced that they will not be running for re-election.
The House Ethics Committee published a document regarding the New York representative, stating that they had found significant proof that Mr. Santos had violated federal laws.
The panel discovered that Mr. Santos intentionally directed his campaign to submit inaccurate FEC reports, misused campaign finances for his own benefit, such as on OnlyFans, and made other similar conclusions.
Following the publication of the report, Mr Santos declared that he will not run for re-election in 2024. In a lengthy statement, he denounced the report as a “vile and politically motivated attack.”
10 October 2023: Superseding Indictment
The Justice Department issued a revised indictment with 23 counts after several months, including charges of conspiring to commit crimes against the United States, wire fraud, making false statements to the FEC, altering records to hinder the FEC, aggravated identity theft, and access device fraud.
Newly disclosed charges state that Mr. Santos is accused of stealing credit cards from his donors. One donor in particular had a charge of $44,800 attempted on their credit card without consent.
9 May 2023: Criminal charges
On May 9th, there was a significant change in the situation as Mr. Santos was charged with 13 federal offenses by the Justice Department.
The congressman facing adversity was accused of committing seven instances of wire fraud, three instances of money laundering, one instance of stealing public funds, and two instances of providing untrue information to the House of Representatives.
10 May 2023: Arrest
The day following the submission of the indictment, Mr. Santos turned himself in to authorities at a federal court on Long Island and was subsequently arrested.
The unsealing of the indictment revealed that Mr. Santos has been accused by federal prosecutors of falsifying information on his financial disclosure forms that he submitted to the House during his candidacy.
17 April: Reelection bid
Despite the increasing number of scandals, Mr. Santos announced his campaign for reelection.
During his campaign announcement, he did not address the investigations or his increasing false statements.
“We require a champion who is familiar with the area and can bravely fulfill the needs of the community,” he stated.
2 March 2023: Ethics investigation
The House Ethics Committee announced an investigation into Mr. Santos on March 2nd.
The panel has announced that an “Investigative Subcommittee” will investigate the possibility of the new congressman from Long Island, New York engaging in illegal activity during his 2022 congressional campaign, failing to disclose necessary information on filed statements, violating federal conflict of interest laws through his involvement with a firm providing fiduciary services, and/or engaging in sexual misconduct towards a job applicant in his congressional office.
“George, time is over.”
On February 20th, 2023, there will be an interview with Piers Morgan.
As a further effort to move on from the multitude of scandals that have overwhelmed Mr. Santos for weeks, the congressman from New York agrees to be interviewed by Piers Morgan, a renowned and challenging British broadcaster.
At the request of Morgan, Mr. Santos is asked to clarify the distinction between minor embellishments on his resume and outright dishonesty. He responds to the journalist by confessing, “I have a history of being a terrible liar.”
On January 23, 2023, a poll revealed that most New Yorkers are in favor of removing Santos from office.
It seems that voters in Mr. Santos’s district and throughout the state have made their decision clear in a recent poll published on Monday: they prefer for the congressman to resign rather than serve another two years in office. This sentiment was also shared by a majority of Republicans, with 49 percent expressing the same.
It is difficult to envision a way for Mr. Santos, a 34-year-old newcomer, to secure a second term as he confronts strong criticism from his peers all over Washington and ambitious competitors in his own constituency.
On January 17th, 2023, Representative Ritchie Torres hosts a press conference alongside the group “Concerned Citizens of NY03.”
Continuing to exert pressure on his local competitor, Mr. Torres organized a press conference where he showcased his “SANTOS Act”. This proposed legislation would require candidates running for Congress to provide essential personal information to the federal government, with consequences for lying under oath.
On January 18, 2023, Eula Rochard exposes the truth about ‘Kitara Ravache’.
Amidst the already strange circumstances, a drag artist from Brazil named Eula Rochard reached out to freelance journalist Marisa Kabas and shared a photo of Mr. Santos in drag.
According to her, the congressman used to do drag performances in Brazil during his teenage years under the name “Kitara Ravache.”
Mr. Santos initially denied the allegations, but after additional evidence in the form of photos and videos came to light, he was forced to confess again. He also made a sarcastic remark, saying, “Go ahead and sue me.” It was later revealed that a Wikipedia user using Mr. Santos’s pseudonym, “Anthony Devolder,” had boasted about performing at multiple events.
‘This investigation accumulated 170,000 documents.’
Source: independent.co.uk
