Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., celebrated surviving House expulsion Wednesday night with a pair of social media posts — including one he decided to delete that showed him wearing the crown of a king.
"If you come for me, you best not miss," Santos boasted in his first post showing him wearing a crown, which was ultimately deleted, according to reports. "Tonight was a victory for due process not me. This was never about me, and I'll never let it become about me.
"We all have rights under this great Constitutional Republic and I'll fight for our right to uphold them till my last dying breath."
Once that post was deleted, Santos' personal X account posted the statement without the photo of him wearing a king's crown.
Santos posted an official statement to his congressional X account Thursday morning, too.
"I continue to fight for the principles and values that the people of New York's 3rd District hold dear," Santos' statement read. "Despite facing opposition and calls for my expulsion, I remain steadfast in my commitment to serving my constituents and upholding conservative ideals.
"With my unwavering dedication to fiscal responsibility, strong national defense, and protecting our constitutional rights, I will remain a valuable voice in Congress. My continued presence ensures that the concerns and needs of New York's 3rd Congressional District are effectively represented."
Santos easily survived a vote Wednesday to expel him from the House as most Republicans and 31 Democrats opted to withhold punishment while both his criminal trial and a House Ethics Committee investigation proceed.
The effort to kick Santos out of the House was led by his fellow New York Republicans, who are anxious to distance themselves from a colleague infamous for fabricating his life story and accused of stealing from donors, lying to Congress, and receiving unemployment benefits he did not deserve.
But the resolution failed to gain the required two-thirds vote. Supporters could not even gain a simple majority, with the final vote being 179 for expulsion and 213 against.
To succeed, numerous Republican lawmakers would have had to break ranks with newly elected Speaker Mike Johnson, who has said Santos should get his day in court.
Some Democrats also voiced concerns about getting ahead of the Ethics Committee, which issued a rare memo the day before, citing the depth of its investigation with some 40 witnesses contacted and the issuance of 37 subpoenas. It also said the next steps of the committee's investigation would be announced by Nov. 17.
"I feel like due process is still alive," Santos said after the vote. "I feel like there's enough colleagues on both sides of the aisle here who understand that."
Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., who supported the expulsion effort, said the delegation would likely raise it again once the Ethics Committee releases the findings of its investigation.
"I suspect the report is going to come public soon, and it's going to be clear that he should be removed from Congress," he said.
Santos faces 23 charges in federal court. His trial has been scheduled for September next year. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Also on Wednesday evening, the House voted to reject an effort to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Democrats called off an effort to censure Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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