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The House broke new ground Friday as it voted to expel a member who hadn’t been convicted of a crime, leaving lawmakers wondering whose head might be next.
The chamber voted overwhelmingly to oust George Santos, a New York Republican who admitted to fabricating major parts of his biography and was indicted on 23 charges of conspiracy, fraud, false records and statements, and identity theft. He has yet to go to trial.
He is only the sixth House member to be expelled in the chamber’s more than 230-year history and the first to be ushered out without being convicted of a crime or having been part of the Confederacy’s rebellion in the Civil War.
Many ethics groups said they hope the move shows a House more willing to police bad behavior without waiting for the wheels of justice to grind to a conclusion.
“If we have an opportunity in this great institution to start a new precedent, one that means we hold members of the House of Representatives to a higher standard, I am pretty confident that the American people would applaud that,” said Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, a Republican who led the ouster proceedings against his fellow New Yorker.
Opponents said the move set a worrying standard for short-circuiting due process and delivering mob justice.
“It’s like witnessing an otherwise fair and compassionate village gather to celebrate the burning of an alleged witch,” said Rep. Clay Higgins, Louisiana Republican.
The House Ethics Committee delivered a devastating report finding a tsunami of illegal behavior that turned Mr. Santos’ congressional campaign last year into a personal moneymaker. It said he spent money on items such as pornography and botox and concealed it through bogus campaign finance reports.
Mr. Santos’ opponents said the House is not a court of law but rather a public trust given by voters. Mr. Santos bamboozled those voters, they said, and it was up to Congress to rectify matters.
Rep. Michael Lawler, New York Republican, said Mr. Santos lied about aspects of his life “from birth all the way to his election.”
“I understand the concern that there was not a conviction,” Mr. Lawler told The Washington Times. “I understand the concern that this can be weaponized. But to me, this was bigger than the party, it was bigger than a majority was. It was about doing what is right.”
Mr. Santos lied to voters about where he went to high school and college, about having worked on Wall Street and apparently about being Jewish. That was before he was accused of lying on House financial disclosure forms and misusing campaign funds. The list goes on.
The vote to oust Mr. Santos was 311-114, well over the two-thirds needed to expel a member. Democrats were overwhelmingly in favor, by a vote of 206-2, and Republicans were nearly evenly split at 105-112.
The top Republican leadership voted against expulsion.
Mr. Santos said he was being railroaded and decried the “hypocrisy” of colleagues with their own dirty secrets.
“Are we really going to ignore the fact that we all have pasts and we all have the media coming out against us on a daily basis?” he said. “I am not going to stand here to smear them. I am not going to stand here and use the time I have to say ill things about my colleagues. I refuse to stoop to that level.”
He added: “Take the vote. I am at peace.”
Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who backed Mr. Santos in the vote, said the House set a worrying standard.
“Since the beginning of this Congress, there are only two ways you get expelled: You get convicted of a crime, or you participated in the Civil War. Neither apply to George Santos,” Mr. Gaetz said.
He pointed to former Rep. Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who, like Mr. Santos, faced charges of stealing money from his campaign to use for personal issues. Mr. Hunter served throughout his indictment and remained in Congress for a month after his guilty plea before resigning in January 2020.
Mr. Gaetz wondered why the Senate hasn’t acted to expel Sen. Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat indicted in September on charges that he took repeated bribes, including nearly $500,000 in cash, a Mercedes and gold bars, to deliver favors for a foreign government, Egypt.
Mr. Menendez also serves as another reminder about indictments and convictions.
He previously faced federal corruption charges as a sitting senator, but the case ended in a mistrial after a hung jury failed to deliver a verdict. His Democratic colleagues rewarded him by restoring him to his committee leadership post.
Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat, has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge after pulling a fire alarm and disrupting a critical House vote.
The House Ethics Committee opted not to investigate Mr. Bowman’s conduct.
Mr. Santos’ last move as a lawmaker was to file a resolution seeking to expel Mr. Bowman.
Ethics groups said the House showed courage.
“Today the House of Representatives took that action and demonstrated its oversight capabilities, sending a powerful message that members of Congress have a responsibility to the American people to uphold the highest ethical standards,” said Issue One, an ethics advocacy group run by former Reps. Tim Roemer and Zach Wamp.
They also felt compelled to caution lawmakers “to not allow this to be a precedent or a reason for future political retaliations.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat who had argued against expelling Mr. Santos, said he changed his mind after the Ethics Committee released its report. Mr. Raskin said Friday that Republicans set a new standard but would be challenged in their reach.
“The Republican Party has a very serious problem now,” Mr. Raskin said. “They have proclaimed a new standard of ethics, and yet they all continue to stand by Donald Trump.”
Mr. Gaetz said Congress was stealing the job the Constitution gave to the people in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
“If George Santos is convicted, he ought to be expelled. Until then, it is an incredibly dangerous thing for people in Washington, D.C., to substitute their judgment for the judgment of voters,” Mr. Gaetz said.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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