New York Rep. George Santos is due back in court Friday morning to face new fraud charges as House Republicans move to have their embattled colleague kicked out of Congress.
Santos was indicted on various federal offenses back in May for fabricating his life story, lying to congress about being a millionaire, and misleading voters, all while cheating to collect unemployment benefits. The 23 new charges accuse him of conspiring to defraud donors by using their credit cards to rack up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized purchases.
His arraignment comes a day after a group of fellow New York Republicans officially filed a resolution to have Santos expelled from Congress. The resolution, filed by Rep. Anthony D'Esposito and co-sponsored by Reps. Nick Lalota, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams, would require a two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives and must be voted on within two legislative days.
"While George Santos is entitled to his day in court to plead his innocence, the people of New York's 3rd Congressional District deserve a representative who is solely focused on serving the public and not spending the majority of their time combatting 23 federal charges such as wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds," Rep. D'Esposito said in a statement. "We must remove this conman from Congress." In response, Santos said he is entitled to due process. But the new charges only deepen the legal peril he's facing.
In addition to lying to voters about his distinguished Wall Street background, academic achievements, family ties to the Holocaust, animal rescue work, and more, Santos has also been accused of carrying out several fraud schemes to enrich himself and mislead donors. If convicted, he faces a lengthy prison, but Santos has repeatedly rejected widespread calls for him to resign and said he intends to run for reelection next year.
Gage Jackson
