George Santos made a fervent appeal to democratic norms on Thursday in a final effort to thwart an imminent vote for his expulsion from the US House of Representatives. He expressed disdain for the ongoing efforts to remove him, denouncing it as “bullying” and prophesying “the undoing of a lot of members of this body” if he is expelled.
The beleaguered Republican congressman, who is bracing for a third expulsion vote, decried the repeated waste of Congress’s time at the expense of the American people. Santos stated that the power to remove him lies with the people, not Congress.
Following an ethics report alleging misuse of campaign funds, including purchases on platforms like Botox and OnlyFans, Santos adamantly rejected the basis for his expulsion, claiming it defied precedent. He disputed the report’s contents, describing it as “littered” with hyperbole and opinion.
Santos is currently facing 23 federal counts, including conspiracy and fraud-related charges. He compared the attempt to expel him to actions taken against past members of Congress.
He criticized Congress as a “house that doesn’t work for the people” and called out some fellow Republican lawmakers, labeling them as individuals “with rap sheets who think and feel emboldened enough to call out other people.”
Furthermore, debates within the Republican party were elucidated when Staten Island representative Nicole Malliotakis stated that “George Santos should be expelled,” reflecting the precarious balance of power in the House.
Another Republican, Jim Jordan, emphasized that the issue should be resolved by the voters in Santos’s district, advocating for due process in the decision-making process.
Santos also announced plans to introduce a motion to expel Democratic New York representative Jamaal Bowman over an unrelated incident, further adding to the tensions within the House.
With a vote for Santos’s expulsion scheduled for the following day, the political landscape remains volatile, raising questions about the future of Republican control in the House.
As the controversy intensifies, Santos continues to plead his case, challenging the narrative with a bold declaration: “Are we to now assume that one is no longer innocent until proven guilty and they are, in fact, guilty until proven innocent?”
Should the move to expel him succeed, New York Governor Kathy Hochul will be forced to call a special election to fill Santos’s seat, marking a critical turning point in the political arena.
