Son of Santos

Thanks to the presence of George Santos (or Anthony Devolder or any other alias the con man may be using) being a freshman member of Congress from New York this year has been sullied. So we sympathize with the legitimate New York frosh and their frustration with the faker in their ranks. For the unaware, the very real representative from Nassau and Queens is a fake college grad, a fake Wall Street banker, a fake Jew, a fake 9/11 family member and a long list of other fakes, due to him being an actual liar extraordinaire.

Democrat Dan Goldman filed an ethics complaint against Santos within days of taking the oath. He also cosponsored the cleverly named SANTOS Act (Stopping Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker) and signed on to a resolution of expulsion.

The half dozen GOP newcomers, Anthony D’Esposito, Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Nick Langworthy and Brandon Williams — with Santos stinking up their party conference — have felt the revulsion and the collateral political damage even more than Goldman. And Tuesday they offered a pair of new anti-Santos actions, the No Fame for Fraud Resolution and the No Fortune for Fraud Act.

The twin measures seek to deny an indicted or convicted member of Congress from profiting from the sale of his story. New York State tried years ago with the Son of Sam law to stop a notorious serial killer from getting a payday from a book or film rights. The hitch was that in 1991 the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided that the law violated the First Amendment and threw it out. Albany tried again, with an effort to allow crime victims to make claims against a perpetrator’s profits.

To be clear, we want Santos to resign yesterday, but he’s not been charged with any violation, let alone convicted, and he’ll always have free speech rights. As for allowing the victims of his crimes to sue, who do the congressmen have in mind, his defrauded constituents?

We suggest the aggrieved congressmen try to ignore Santos.