Rep. George Santos Could Face Expulsion Vote in Congress Next Week
Washington — Rep. George Santos, a Republican from New York, is expected to face an expulsion vote in Congress next week after being hit with multiple charges earlier this month. The charges accuse Santos of stealing his campaign donors’ identities and making unauthorized charges on their credit cards, totaling thousands of dollars. Santos is set to appear in court on Friday, and a trial date is expected to be set for May or June of 2024, just months before the 2024 election.
The Justice Department and Santos are preparing for the trial, and Santos has repeatedly stated that he plans to plead not guilty. Federal prosecutors are also seeking to modify or expand Santos’ pretrial release conditions. In a court filing, prosecutors mentioned that the identities of additional individuals were provided to Santos, whom he would be banned from contacting. However, due to some of them being members of Santos’ family, his defense counsel has requested permission to contact some of them.
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According to prosecutors, Santos’ counsel agrees that he “will continue to be prohibited from communicating with these individuals about this case, the pending charges against him, the facts underlying the pending charges, and any future court proceedings, trial, or testimony in this matter.”
The recent allegations were unveiled in a superseding indictment that was released earlier this month, after Santos’ former campaign treasurer pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States. The former treasurer admitted that Santos’ campaign finance reports were falsified with fake loans and donors.
The new indictment accuses Santos of repeatedly using campaign donors’ credit cards without authorization for the benefit of his campaign and personal use. It details how Santos charged $15,800 to his campaign and related political committees using one donor’s credit card without their knowledge. The indictment further alleges that Santos attempted to make $44,800 in unauthorized charges using the same donor’s information, with some of the money being transferred to his personal bank account.
The indictment also claims that Santos and his former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, conspired to falsify his campaign finance reports to meet fundraising benchmarks and boost his campaign. They also allegedly lied about a $500,000 campaign loan made by Santos.
In response to the recent charges, Santos adamantly denied any wrongdoing, stating, “Why would I want to hurt the same people who went out of their way to get me here?” Santos pleaded not guilty to the charges in the original indictment in May and has consistently dismissed calls for his resignation from Congress, emphasizing his right to due process and a fair outcome.
In light of the mounting charges against Santos, some of his Republican colleagues in New York are striving to expel him from Congress. This comes after a previous attempt by House Democrats, which was blocked by Republicans earlier this year. The matter was referred to the House Ethics Committee for investigation, as then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy argued that the legal process should be allowed to unfold.
Contributor: Caitlin Yilek
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter for CBS News Digital. You can reach her at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter here.
