Photo: Michael Reynolds/EPA 'Fuck this place': George Santos escalates attacks after expulsion
Basnik says he'll sue court complains about ethical problems of former colleagues and accuses others of affairs and missing votes due to hangovers
George Santos, the disgraced New York Republican who was expelled from the House of Representatives on Friday US, spent his first hours as a former congressman berating his former colleagues and saying he would file ethics complaints against four of them on Monday.
How George Santos responded to a fact check on 14 of his biggest liesRead more
Santos told reporters after his expulsion that he was done with Congress.
“Why do I want to stay here? Fuck this place,” he told reporters outside the US Capitol after the vote.
By Friday evening, he was already tweeting about his colleagues. He wrote on X that he would file an ethics complaint against three of his fellow Republicans from New York – Mike Lawler, Nicole Malliotakis and Nick LaLota – who have long pushed for his ouster from Congress. He offered no evidence of wrongdoing against any of the three.
He also wrote that he would file a complaint against Representative Rob Menendez, whose father, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, faces criminal charges that he acted as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of Egypt. Santos, again, did not make specific allegations of wrongdoing.
Anyone can file a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics, but that doesn't mean it will lead to an investigation.
Santos also called on congressional Republicans to have “egg fortitude” and try expel Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and paid a fine for setting off a fire alarm in a congressional office building.
Let's see who will be the Republican who has the courage to take up my preferred motion to expel Bowman and reintroduce it! #ExpelBowman
— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) December 2, 2023
Santos spent the week before the impeachment vote berating colleagues, accusing them of having affairs and missing votes due to hangovers.
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Santos became the sixth person ever expelled from Congress following a bipartisan vote of 311-114 on Friday . His expulsion came shortly after a House Ethics Committee report detailed how he spent campaign funds on luxury items, cosmetics and an OnlyFans subscription. He also pleaded not guilty to a 23-count federal charge related to the use of campaign funds.
After Santos was elected to Congress from Long Island last year and Queens, quickly earned a reputation as a prolific liar. Among other things, he lied about working on Wall Street, that his mother died during 9/11, and that he was a volleyball star in college.
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