(NationRise.com) – The House of Representatives voted on December 1 to formally expel New York Republican Representative George Santos. With a final vote of 311-114, Santos became the sixth member in US Congress’ history to be expelled by colleagues, and the third one since the US Civil War. Nearly all Democrats, along with 105 GOP lawmakers, voted to oust him.
Santos’ expulsion represents the final chapter of what many media outlets have described as a “fall from grace.” While many Republicans celebrated his victory after flipping a district from Democrats in 2022, Santos’s story started to unravel before being sworn into office. Numerous reports revealed that he had lied about having a career at some of the leading Wall Street firms, along with his college degree, Jewish ancestry, and many other things.
In May, federal prosecutors indicted him on numerous charges, which included conspiracy, making false statements to American authorities, the falsification of records, aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and credit fraud. As a result, some members of Congress publicly said they would try to expel him as soon as possible. However, the vote failed as some lawmakers said they wanted to wait for more evidence against Santos.
The evidence was shown in a November House Ethics Committee report, which turned his colleagues decisively against him. After eight months of investigations, Ethics Committee officials said they found “overwhelming evidence” that the New York Republican representative broke the law and took advantage of his political and public position for profit.
In a final effort to remain in office, Santos asked his colleague to let the court process play out while warning of the “dangerous precedent” they would set if they ended up expelling a House member who hasn’t been convicted of any crime yet. As they debated his official removal on November 30, he told lawmakers that deciding to oust him would be something that would “haunt them in the future.”
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