An investigation within the House Ethics Committee into various allegations involving serially lying Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) has featured dozens of subpoenas, panel leadership says. The House was slated on Wednesday to vote on a push from several fellow New York Republicans for Santos to be expelled from Congress altogether.
The Ethics panel’s statement was from the overall committee’s chairperson and ranking member, meaning the top-ranking individual from the minority party. In this Congress, that’s Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.) and Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), respectively.
“Specifically, the ISC has reviewed allegations that Representative Santos: engaged in unlawful activity with respect 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 firm providing fiduciary services; engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office; and/or fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits,” their statement said. “The ISC has contacted approximately 40 witnesses, reviewed more than 170,000 pages of documents, and authorized 37 subpoenas.”
“ISC” refers to a subcommittee established within the broader Ethics panel for examining this matter. Santos also faces a series of federal criminal charges, which in some areas — like the allegations he improperly received unemployment benefits and misrepresented his financial status to the House in required disclosure forms associated with running for Congress — overlap with the House Ethics investigation. The statement from Guest and Wild said the committee would make another announcement related to Santos within roughly a couple weeks.
These days, Santos doesn’t really do much substantial. He’s highly active on social media, posting regularly on X (formerly Twitter). And he’s keeping up a predictable refusal to abide by pushes from the many, many who want him out. “Three points of clarification: 1. I have not cleared out my office. 2. I’m not resigning. 3. I’m entitled to due process and not a predetermined outcome as some are seeking. God bless!” Santos insisted in a recent post.
