The walls may be closing in on lying Long Island Republican Rep. George Santos.The House Ethics Committee announced Tuesday that it would reveal its “next course of action” against the scandal-plagued congressman “on or before” Nov. 17.The 10-member panel has been investigating the 35-year-old representative from New York’s Third District since February.The claims within the panel’s purview include allegations contained in a 23-count indictment leveled against Santos in the Eastern District of New York, as well as claims he violated federal conflict of interest laws and sexually harassed a former staffer. “The [investigative subcommittee] has contacted approximately 40 witnesses, reviewed more than 170,000 pages of documents, and authorized 37 subpoenas,” the committee said in a statement.Last week, Santos pleaded not guilty to a superseding indictment containing 10 additional counts against him, which came on top of the 13 counts he was initially slapped with back in May. Long Island prosecutors have accused him of falsifying records with the Federal Election Commission, stealing the identities of campaign donors, and racking up tens of thousands of dollars on their credit cards without authorization.“I don’t know the back ends and the back door systems of the FEC, how — how reports are filed, so to even blame me on false statements of the FEC is absolute bulls–t,” Santos said after the new charges came down.In spite of the scandals and legal peril surrounding Santos, he has spurned calls to step down from Congress and opted to vie for re-election in 2024.The lawmaker admitted to The Post in December 2022 that he had fabricated key claims he made about his biography during his past two congressional campaigns. Santos copped to lying about his education and work experience, confessing that he “never worked directly” for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and that he never graduated from college despite claiming to have obtained a degree from Baruch College. The rep also confirmed that he had exaggerated stories about his family’s purported Jewish heritage — including that his grandparents fled Nazi persecution — saying: “I never claimed to be Jewish. I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”Santos’ struggles have attracted a torrent of primary and general election challengers, who see an opening for the seat he managed to gain from the Democrats in 2022. Meanwhile, his campaign fundraising took a nosedive, coming up negative for the third quarter of this year. Six fellow House Republicans from New York are leading the charge to expel Santos, which would require a two-thirds majority. Sources tell The Post the attempt to remove Santos is unlikely to succeed, with many GOP lawmakers reluctant to get ahead of the legal process. A Santos spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. With reporting by Josh Christenson
World News
01 Kasım 2023 - 01:00
House Ethics panel says next move against George Santos coming by Nov. 17
The House Committee on Ethics is planning to reveal its “next course of action” against George Santos on or before Nov. 17.
World News
01 Kasım 2023 - 01:00
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