House Democrats are pushing to force a vote to censure freshman Republican Rep. George Santos of New York for lying during the 2022 elections, in a seemingly retaliatory move following the June GOP-led censure of California Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff.
"If you are a member of Congress who has informally condemned Mr. Santos, then you should have no trouble formally censuring him," Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., who wrote the three-page censure resolution, told The New York Times Monday. "He has disgraced the institution, and the institution should speak with one voice against his misconduct."
Santos is accused of lying to the voters about his resume during his successful 2022 run for Congress and was one of four key districts in that state to flip to the Republicans, helping them gain a narrow majority in the House.
According to The Times, a Congressional censure is that body's "stiffest punishment." It has only been leveled a couple of dozen times in the nation's history, including the censure of Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who in June baselessly said publicly that there was hard "evidence" that former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 campaign.
"The allegation that President Donald Trump colluded with Russia to interfere in the 2016 Presidential election has been revealed as false by numerous in-depth investigations," Schiff's censure resolution, which passed the chamber along party lines 213-209 with six abstentions, stated, "including the recent report by Special Counsel John Durham, which documents how the conspiracy theory was invented, funded, and spread by President Trump's political rivals."
In addition to the possible censure, Santos is facing a May Department of Justice criminal indictment, alleging he embezzled campaign funds, fraudulently received unemployment benefits, and lied in official disclosures to the House.
"This indictment seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a press release announcing the indictment. "Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself. He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic and lied to the House of Representatives."
The Times report said those allegations were given to the House Ethics Committee for further investigation and the potential recommendation of removing Santos from Congress.
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