Well, Well, Well: Looks Like We Have Enough Votes to Censure George Santos
The New York congressman known for his serial lies is on thin ice.
It appears Democrats will have the votes to censure George Santos, after six Republicans confirmed Tuesday that they would move to formally rebuke the congressman known for his serial lies.
New York Democrat Ritchie Torres introduced a resolution on Monday to censure Santos. The resolution is privileged, meaning that when Torres calls for a vote, a vote has to be held within 48 hours. Santos is also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
New York Representatives Nick Lalota, Marc Molinaro, Anthony D’Esposito, Nick Langworthy, and Mike Lawler, as well as Ohio Representative Max Miller, told Politico they will support the resolution. All six of them are among a surprisingly lengthy list of Republicans who have already called on Santos to resign.
“I was the first to call for his resignation. I’ve said on the floor that he is a stain to our institution and I’d vote to censure,” D’Esposito told Politico.
If these six lawmakers and all the Democrats unite to back the resolution, they will have exactly enough votes needed to pass the measure.
This is the second time Democrats have introduced a privileged resolution on Santos over his many, many lies, moving in May to expel him from Congress. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy managed to convince Republicans to refer the resolution to the Ethics Committee as part of its investigation into Santos.
The new resolution lists more than a dozen of Santos’s many lies, such as his fabricating the bulk of his professional and educational résumé—including that he received a volleyball scholarship for college. The resolution also calls out Santos’s lies that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors, his mother died in the 9/11 attack, and four of his employees were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting. He also lied about founding an animal rescue charity and producing the disastrous Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
Santos has been federally charged with 13 counts of various types of financial fraud, to which he has pleaded not guilty. He also agreed to a deal with Brazilian authorities investigating him for financial fraud, so that he could avoid prosecution.