Global Courant 2023-05-18 05:05:05
WASHINGTON — The House voted Wednesday night to pass a Democratic-backed resolution to impeach Rep. George Santos, RN.Y., to the Ethics Committee.
By taking the matter to the House Committee on Ethics, which has been investigating Santos since early March, Republicans tentatively avoided a vote on the resolution itself, which was introduced Tuesday by Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif.
The referral, which passed by a 221-204 vote on Wednesday, required only a simple majority to pass. No Republican voted against the motion, and seven Democrats voted in attendance, including all five Democratic members of the Ethics Panel.
Representative George Santos, RN.Y., at the Capitol Thursday.Alex Wong/Getty Images
After the vote, Santos said he believed the chamber made “the right decision” and that he intended to defend himself.
“I look forward to seeing the trial unfold,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill. “And if the ethics committee finds a reason to remove me, then that’s the process.”
Santos said he has not yet appeared before the panel.
As Santos spoke to reporters, Representatives Jamaal Bowman and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both DN.Y., heard him taunt.
“You have to go!” Bowman yelled repeatedly and also told him to “stand down”.
Santos then yelled back at the two Democrats, telling reporters he could no longer speak because “there’s a deranged member here.”
Because the impeachment resolution was privileged, Republican leaders had to schedule a vote before Thursday. House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., sent a message Wednesday telling lawmakers they would vote on a motion to refer the resolution to the Ethics panel around 5 p.m.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. — who said last week he would not support Santos’ re-election bid — said Tuesday night that he preferred the referral approach rather than a floor vote to have Santos removed from Congress.
Garcia called McCarthy’s approach “a breakout” at a news conference Wednesday morning. “This is already in the ethics committee,” Garcia said. “We want an actual vote on the eviction.”
Rep. Dan Goldman, DN.Y., a former federal prosecutor, suggested the ethics committee not follow up on the resolution and instead refer it to the Justice Department, which last week charged Santos with a 13-count charge.
“Prosecutors are going to ask the ethics committee to pause and let their prosecution take place first,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been doing for 10 years. That’s the nature of how these things work. And traditionally the Ethics Committee will refer criminal prosecutions to the Justice Department, and Kevin McCarthy knows that.”
Goldman said the tactic was a way for Republicans to avoid accountability over the eviction order.
Last week at a Long Island courthouse, Santos pleaded not guilty to the federal charges unsealed by the Justice Department. He was charged seven counts of fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of materially false statements to the House of Representatives. He must appear in court again on June 30.
Santos, who had previously admitted lying about his background, called the allegations a “witch huntand said he would not resign.
In March, the ethics committee opened an investigation it said would determine whether Santos “engaged in unlawful activity related 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 company that provides fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct against a person seeking employment in his congressional office.”
Zoë Richards, Ryan Nobles, Alexandra Bacalao and Frank Thorp V contributed.
