Embattled Queens/Long Island Congressman George Santos is now being investigated by the House Ethics Committee for unlawful activity during his 2022 congressional campaign. The committee voted to open the probe earlier this week.
Additionally, the House Ethics Committee will investigate whether or not Santos’ financial disclosure forms are found to be truthful. He will also be investigated for possibly violating conflict-of-interest laws and sexual misconduct allegations.
Santos has earned a reputation as a national laughingstock due to the significant amount of lies that he has been caught in since being elected. While many of the lies were meant to try to make himself look good as a candidate, such as his education and career history, there are many others that stick out as odd. For example, he falsely claimed to have been a producer for the disastrous Broadway play Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.
Due to concerns and questions surrounding Santos’ actual wealth, as well as suspicious campaign donations he received, many legislators and citizens had been calling for an investigation to be done on his campaign for a while. Santos is also being investigated by both the Queens and Nassau County District Attorney Offices as well.
Despite a majority of Santos’ district’s residents calling for him to resign since the first lies came to light thanks to a New York Times article last December, he has refused to step down. However, he has recused himself from his congressional committee assignments.
If the investigation does find that Santos’ campaign broke the law, it is possible that the House will vote to expel him from office. In order for Santos to be expelled, two-thirds of the 435 members must vote in favor of it. Assuming all 212 Democrats vote for Santos to be expelled, at least 78 Republicans would need to vote with them.
Santos has faced criticism from many constituents within the Queens/Long Island district he is representing.
On Feb. 25, dozens of Congressional District 3 residents gathered in New Hyde Park to caravan through Queens and Long Island and call for embattled Congressman George Santos to be removed from office.
The rally followed several other protests held outside of Santos’ Douglaston office in Queens calling for Santos to be expelled from Congress.
