The US House of Representatives expelled the controversial Republican representative from office this Friday at the third attempt George Santoswho had built his political career on lies and alleged crimes.
Santos was also expelled 311 yes votes and 114 no votes, Many of his Republican colleagues joined Democrats to reach the necessary two-thirds vote that forced his departure from Congress.
When it became clear that there would be enough votes to expel him, Santos said goodbye to his few allies by shaking hands and He left the chamber before the final result was announced.. His position as representative of a wealthy district on Long Island, New York, is now vacant until the election.
An unprecedented expulsion in the USA
The expulsion of Santos is the sixth expulsion of a representative in the 230-year history of the US Congress extraordinary measure, unprecedented in the case of Santos.
The The first three expulsionsIn 1861, the money went to Confederate secessionists, while the other two went to congressmen convicted of corruption crimes in 1981 and 2002.
The Controversies of George Santos
Charged with 13 charges
Santos has not been convicted of a crime but is charged with 13 counts Fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds – among other things, for illegally collecting $24,000 from the unemployment fund.
More than $200,000 in campaign funds for personal purposes
This is also evident from an internal report House Ethics CommitteeThe accusation, controlled by his Republican colleagues, that he had funneled more than $200,000 of his campaign funds for personal purposes.
Shopping, travel and OnlyFans subscription
The expenses Santos would have incurred with that money include purchases Hermès, Ferragamo or Sephoraa subscription to the adult content site OnlyFans or different tripsas well as recurring payments on your credit cards.
His lies: He is neither Jewish nor did his mother survive September 11th
But what really made Santos famous in the 11 months he was a congressman, beyond his alleged crimes and ethical misconduct, were the recurring scandals, usually related to his lies.
Santos lied when he explained that his grandparents had fled the Holocaustwhen he assured that His mother had survived the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York or when he said he was Jewish.
Even in his resume, when he said he worked on Wall Street or studied at New York University (NYU). Furthermore, he had one Fraud court case opened in Brazilwhere he had lived and from where he had fled without being held accountable.
All of this had caused two previous expulsion attemptsbut Santos had survived both.
On Thursday, in his final hours as a congressman, the House of Commons held the debate in which Above all, Santos faced his party colleagues who would allow his downfall.
“You’re a thief”Republican Max Miller snapped at Santos, to which he responded, “My colleague wants to come here and call me a thief. The same colleague who is accused of mistreating women. We all have a past.”