Santos not seeking new term, but it may be moot Guest moves to expel as committee finds ‘substantial evidence’ of crimes

by Sophie Krichevsky Associate Editor

Following the release of the House Ethics Committee report on its inquiry into embattled Rep. George Santos (R-Nassau, Queens) last Thursday, the congressman announced he will not seek reelection next year.

Though the committee did not go so far as to recommend his expulsion in its report, Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), who chairs the House Ethics Committee, last Friday introduced a motion to remove Santos.

In a lengthy statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, Santos condemned the Ethics Committee before saying he will bow out.

“If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the ‘Ethics committee,’ they would have not released this biased report. The Committee went to extraordinary lengths to smear myself and my legal team about me not being forthcoming (My legal bills suggest otherwise),” he wrote in part.

“I am humbled yet again and reminded that I am human and I have flaws, but I will not stand by as I am stoned by those who have flaws themselves. I will continue on my mission to serve my constituents up until I am allowed. I will however NOT be seeking re-election for a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time.”

His announcement came shortly after the Ethics Committee released its long-awaited report on the slew of allegations of ethical and legal violations, including his largely falsified resume, his questionable campaign finances and much more.

In a statement on his decision to introduce an expulsion resolution, which he said he did “separate from the Committee process and my role as Chairman,” Guest explained why the committee did not take that step itself. “Given the intense public scrutiny surrounding Representative Santos and the ongoing activity at the DOJ, including indictments, the Ethics Committee decided to finish its work without going through the lengthier process that provides for the Committee to make a recommendation of punishment to the House,” he said on X, referring to the Department of Justice.

“The evidence uncovered in the Ethics Committee’s Investigative Subcommittee’s investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment, is expulsion.”

The committee said in its report it found “substantial evidence” that the congressman “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his financial disclosure statements.”

In addition to voting to refer that evidence to the DOJ, the committee unanimously voted to adopt a report by the Investigative Subcommittee looking into Santos, which, per the Ethics Committee report, found Santos “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own person financial profit,” “blatantly stole from his campaign” and “deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit.”

Among the things Santos’ finance records say he spent that money on, attachments to the report show, are purchases at high-end retailers, Botox treatments and on OnlyFans, a website used for the sale of explicit photos and videos.

The ISC report also said Santos “reported fictitious loans to his political committees to induce donors and party committees to make further contributions to his campaign — and then diverted more campaign money to himself” and “used his connections to high value donors and other political campaigns to obtain additional funds for himself through fraudulent or otherwise questionable business dealings.” He did so, the Ethics Committee said in its report, “through a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors and staff about his background and experience.”

Santos’ decision not to seek a second term does not mean he’s out of the woods; he is still facing federal charges related to 23 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy, making false statements, falsifying records, aggravated identity theft, credit card fraud and money laundering. The congressman has pleaded not guilty to all of those charges — even after his former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Santos to falsify his continued on page 14