Embattled New York Republican Rep. George Santos delivered a tirade Friday night blasting his congressional colleagues, accusing them of trying to force him out of Congress because he’s different.
The New York congressman accused the House Ethics Committee of attacking him while letting other unethical behavior in the House go unchecked.
“Within the ranks of the United States Congress, there’s felons galore, there’s people with all sorts of sheisty backgrounds,” Santos said in a nearly three-hour conversation broadcast on X, formerly Twitter.
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., faces a third expulsion vote in the House (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Santos also accused members of Congress of voting drunk and having inappropriate relationships with lobbyists.
“I have colleagues who are more worried about getting drunk every night with the next lobbyists that they’re going to screw and pretend like none of us know what’s going on and sell off the American people,” he said, adding that some do not “show up to vote because they’re too hungover or whatever the reason is, or not show up to vote at all and just give their card out like f—ing candy for someone else to vote for them.”
“This s— happens every single week. Where are the ethics investigations?” he said.
FORMER SANTOS CAMPAIGN FUNDRAISER CHARGED WITH WIRE FRAUD, IDENTITY THEFT
Santos accused “hacks in the Ethics Committee” of acting inappropriately in releasing a report last week that found “substantial evidence” that Santos filed false campaign finance reports, used campaign funds for personal purposes, had a fraudulent connection to a business and knowingly violated ethics laws.
Among other things, the Ethics Committee said it found evidence that Santos had used campaign funds for personal Botox treatments, personal meals, a $4,000 purchase at Hermes and payments to OnlyFans.
The Ethics committee report itself violated his rights to a fair trial, according to Santos, because it made definitive statements about criminal matters and contained “a s—-ton of hyperbole.” Santos faces federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements, falsification of records, aggravated identity theft, and credit card fraud.
Santos already said he would not seek re-election, but he might not survive much longer in the seat he flipped for the GOP.
HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE HEAD TO MOVE TO EXPEL GEORGE SANTOS AFTER RELEASE OF DAMNING REPORT
Santos has survived two expulsion votes, but Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., introduced a resolution to expel Santos following the release of the report. It’s unclear when the measure will be taken up after the House returns.
Santos accused the Ethics Committee of targeting him unfairly and violating his civil rights (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“Chairman Guest feels that the evidence uncovered in the Committee’s investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment, and that the most appropriate punishment is expulsion,” Republican Mississippi Rep. Michael Guest’s personal office told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
Santos admitted that the House appears to be stacked against him.
“I’ll be expelled simply because people did not want me,” he said Friday.
If Santos is expelled, he would be the fifth member of the House to be forcibly removed from the chamber in U.S. history. Santos said that if he is expelled, it would be the first time a member was kicked out of the House before being convicted in court.
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Should Santos be expelled, his seat would be subject to a special election that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul would schedule.
Santos’ district voted for President Biden in 2020, but the freshman Republican House member won a surprising upset in the 2022 midterms.