A vote from the House Ethics Committee came back unanimous this past week on the topic of kicking off a fullscale investigation into Rep. George Santos (R-NY) regarding a large number of issues that stem from a number of false statements that he has fed to the American public in the past.
“Pursuant to the Committee’s action, the Investigative Subcommittee shall have jurisdiction to determine whether Representative George Santos may have: engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign; failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House; violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office,” expressed the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee in a release.
Rep. David Joyce (R-OH) is expected to be the Chair of the Investigative subcommittee with Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA) currently expecting to work as the Ranking Member. The other members expecting to work on the Subcommittee are Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-MD) and Rep. John Rutherford (R-FL).
In the wake of admitting to making a large number of lies regarding various aspects of his background and being the target of numerous probes from both local and federal authorities, the greenhorn congressman announced this past month that he was stepping down from all of the committee assignments he was given.
“With the ongoing attention surrounding both my personal and campaign financial investigations, I have submitted a request to Speaker McCarthy that I be temporarily recused from my committee assignments until I am cleared,” stated Santos in a release. “This was a decision that I take very seriously.”
“The business of the 118th Congress must continue without media fanfare,” he went on. “It is important that I primarily focus on serving the constituents of New York’s Third Congressional District and providing federal level representation without distraction.”
Santos has already openly admitted to lying about his previous work for the financial firms Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Additionally, he has admitted that he did not even graduate from any college. Pushing even further, Santos admitted that he embellished a number of the details regarding his sexuality, his religion, and other aspects of his personal life.
A report from the New York Times that was sent out last month, expressed that a number of officials related to Bazilian law enforcement “intend to revive fraud charges” slated against Santos which seem to be in relation to an incident from 2008 that involved a checkbook that had allegedly been stolen.
Both he and his mother allegedly openly admitted to police officials from 2010 that he stole the checkbook in order to make a number of fraudulent purchases, explained the report. Just a year later, the charge slated against Santos was officially approved, but he had already fled the country and had taken up residence within the U.S.
The report concluded that at this point in the case, neither Brazilian nor U.S. officials can get a response out of Santos.