George Santos Expulsion Resolution Introduced In House Of Representatives By GOP Lawmaker

Forbes Breaking News

On the House floor, Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-NY) introduced a resolution to expel Rep. George Santos (R-NY) from the House.

Transcript

00:00 gentleman from New York seek recognition. Mr. Speaker pursuant to clause 2a1 of

00:04 rule 9 I rise to give notice of my intention to raise a question of the

00:07 privileges of the house. The form of the resolution is as follows. H res 878

00:13 submitted by Mr. Guest providing for the expulsion of representative George

00:18 Santos from the United States House of Representatives. Whereas representative

00:22 George Santos is a member of the United States House of Representatives. Whereas

00:26 soon after his election in November of 2022 representative Santos's background

00:32 came under public scrutiny. Whereas on February 28th 2023 the Committee on

00:38 Ethics of the House unanimously voted to impanel an investigative subcommittee

00:43 herein after in this resolution referred to as the ISC to review whether

00:48 representative Santos may have engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his

00:54 2022 congressional campaign, failed to properly disclose required information

00:58 on statements filed with the house, violated federal conflict of interest

01:03 laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services and

01:08 engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his

01:12 congressional office. Whereas the ISC met nine times and over the course of the

01:17 investigation authorized 37 subpoenas and 43 voluntary requests for information

01:23 RFIs leading to its receipt of over 172,000 pages of documents, contacted or

01:30 interviewed over 40 witnesses and reviewed materials received from the

01:34 Office of Congressional Ethics and relevant court records. Whereas the ISC

01:39 determined in its investigation that there was substantial evidence of

01:42 violations of federal law, the rules of the house and other applicable standards

01:47 related to many of the allegations charged in the indictment and

01:51 substantial evidence of additional unlawful and unethical conduct not

01:55 charged in the indictment. Whereas these additional violations relate to falsely

01:59 reported loans reportedly received by his 2020 campaign and leadership

02:05 political action committee GADS PAC, improper loan repayments to himself,

02:10 systemic reporting errors in his 2020 and 2022 campaigns, federal election

02:15 commission filings and substantial evidence that campaign funds were

02:19 converted to personal use. Whereas the ISC also identified additional errors

02:24 and omissions in his 2020 and 2022 financial disclosure statements as well

02:29 as violations of federal law and the rules of the house related to his

02:32 unfiled 2021 and 2023 financial disclosure statements which were not

02:37 charged in the indictment. Whereas the ISC also found that Representative

02:42 Santos failed to meet his duty of candor with respect to the ISC's

02:46 investigation and instead presented the ISC with misrepresentations and delay

02:51 tactics. Whereas on May 10th 2023 Representative Santos was charged in

02:57 federal court in the Eastern District of New York with wire fraud in connection

03:01 with a fraudulent political contribution scheme, unlawful monetary transactions in

03:06 connection with the wire fraud allegations, theft of public money in

03:09 connection with his alleged receipt of unemployment benefits, fraudulent

03:13 application for and receipt of unemployment benefits and false

03:17 statements in connection with his 2020 and 2022 House of Representatives

03:21 financial disclosure statements. Whereas Nancy Marks who served as treasurer to

03:25 Representative Santos's campaign pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire

03:30 fraud, falsifying records and identity theft in connection with the Santos

03:34 campaign. Whereas a superseding indictment was filed on October 10th

03:37 2023 charging Representative Santos with additional violations related to his

03:42 2022 campaign including allegations of falsifying Federal Election Commission

03:47 reports in connection with a $500,000 personal loan that was never made.

03:52 Falsifying the names of contributors to his campaign, engaging in aggravated

03:56 identity theft and access device fraud and enriching himself through a

04:00 fraudulent contribution scheme. Whereas Sam Milley who served as a fundraiser to

04:05 Representative Santos's campaign pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge

04:09 after impersonating a senior congressional aide for the purposes of

04:12 soliciting funds. Whereas the ISC that was established to review the allegations

04:17 against Representative Santos adopted a report of its findings and submitted the

04:22 report to the full committee. Whereas the Committee on Ethics of the House

04:25 unanimously voted to adopt the ISC report based on the investigation

04:30 providing substantial evidence that Representative Santos won, knowingly

04:34 caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the

04:38 Federal Election Commission, used campaign funds for personal purposes,

04:41 engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with Redstone Strategies LLC

04:45 and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government

04:49 Act as it relates to his financial disclosure statements filed with the

04:53 House. Two, was a knowing and active participant in the wrongdoing and three,

04:57 was given an opportunity pursuant to Committee Rule 17b to submit a signed

05:01 written statement responding to the allegations raised in a complaint filed

05:05 by his fellow members but did not do so. Whereas the ISC 1 requested that

05:10 Representative Santos provide all documents and information responsive to

05:14 his request for information but he did not do so. Two, asked Representative Santos

05:19 to voluntarily testify but he did not do so and three,

05:24 provided Representative Santos the opportunity pursuant to Committee Rule

05:28 19b3 to provide a statement under oath but he did not do so. Whereas a member of

05:33 the House of Representatives, Representative Santos must be held

05:36 accountable to the highest standards of conduct in order to safeguard the

05:41 public's faith in this institution. Whereas the Constitution of the United

05:46 States of America charges the House with policing the behavior of its own members

05:51 and the House should take action against Representative Santos commensurate with

05:57 his violations of federal law and the rules of the House and whereas

06:02 given his egregious violations Representative George Santos is not fit

06:07 to serve as a member of the House of the United, sorry, as a member of the United

06:11 States House of Representatives. Now therefore be it resolved that pursuant

06:15 to Article 1, Section 5, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States of

06:21 America, Representative George Santos be and hereby is expelled from the United

06:26 States House of Representatives. Under Rule 9, a resolution offered from the

06:33 floor by a member other than the majority leader or the minority leader

06:36 as a question of the privileges of the House has immediate precedence only at a

06:40 time designated by the chair within two legislative days after the resolution is

06:45 properly noticed. Pending that designation the form of the resolution

06:50 noticed by the gentleman from New York will appear in the record at this point.

06:55 The chair will not at this point determine whether the resolution

06:59 constitutes a question of privilege. That determination will be made at a time

07:03 designated for consideration of the resolution.

07:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]

Category

Transcript

Recommended