2LT International News

WASHINGTON D.C.: After a House Ethics Committee report found substantial evidence that he broke the law, New York Republican representative George Santos was expelled from the U.S. Congress on Friday.

In a defiant speech last week that condemned many of his congressional colleagues, Santos stressed he was “not going anywhere,” but he acknowledged that his time as a member of Congress could soon be over.

“I know I am going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor. I have done the math over and over, and it does not look really good,” Santos said the same evening during a conversation on X Spaces.

The previous week, Michael Guest, Republican chairman of the House Ethics Committee, introduced a resolution to expel Santos after the body returned from the Thanksgiving break.

Citing the findings of the committee’s months-long investigation into a wide range of alleged misconduct by Santos, many of his colleagues who formerly opposed his expulsion now say they support it.

The report found that Santos used campaign funds for personal purposes, such as purchases at luxury retailers and adult content websites, then caused the campaign to file false or incomplete reports.

“Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit,” said investigators, noting that he did not cooperate with the report and repeatedly “evaded” straightforward requests for information.

On November 24, Santos claimed the reports were “slanderous” and “designed to force me out of my seat.”

Any defense of his conduct could be used against him in the ongoing criminal case brought by federal prosecutors, he added.

He also criticized his congressional colleagues, accusing them of misconduct, such as voting while drunk.

A two-third vote was required for Friday’s expulsion which meant Democrats and Republicans had to come together. With the writing on the wall as the voices were counted, towards the end Santos walked out of the House chamber for the last time, becoming the first member to be ousted in twenty years.