George Santos, notorious for outrageous lies he told about his life and work experience during his congressional campaign, was expelled from the House of Representatives on Friday by more than the required two-thirds vote. Nearly every Democratic member voted to expel Santos, joined by slightly under half of the House Republicans.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and members of his leadership team sided with Santos. While some New York Republicans led the charge against him, Rep. Elise Stefanik supported Santos’s effort to keep his seat, saying it was a “dangerous precedent” to expel him without a criminal conviction.
Some other members of the House who previously held that position changed their positions after the release of a scathing investigative report from the House Ethics Committee that said Santos “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.” The committee said it uncovered wrongdoing that went beyond activities covered the 23 federal criminal charges he is facing, which include wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds.
Some right-wing members and activists tried to manufacture outrage over the vote. “Meet the Dirty RINOs Voted to Expel George Santos” screamed a headline on right-wing pundit Todd Starnes’ website over a list of the 105 Republicans who voted to oust Santos.
Earlier in the day, before the vote, Starnes interviewed Rep. Andy Biggs, who said he hoped the House wouldn’t do something “crazy” and expel Santos. Starnes complained about the lack of punishment for Rep. Jamaal Bowman, who apologized for and pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge last month after pulling a fire alarm in a congressional office building before a key vote. Of course, Santos, who filed a resolution to expel Bowman in a media stunt earlier this week, has been charged with far more serious crimes. Speaking of serious misconduct, in 2020 Biggs pressured Arizona’s House Speaker to dump Biden electors in favor of Trump.
