Santos remains defiant in the face of expulsion
WASHINGTON – George Santos remained defiant in the face of his likely expulsion at a press conference Thursday morning, arguing his detractors were “bullying” him out of Congress and denying a scathing House Ethics Committee report that accused him of wrongdoing.
Santos, R-N.Y., has refused to resign and has promised to take his expulsion in stride: “If I leave, they win. If I leave, the bullies take place. This is bullying.”
In what could be one of his final acts in Congress, Santos is targeting one of his fellow New Yorkers and announced he will introduce his own privileged expulsion resolution on Thursday against Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., for pulling a fire alarm in a House office building.
The privileged expulsion resolution would technically force a vote within two legislative days, but it is unclear if it would make it to the floor if Santos is expelled.
Santos has argued his expulsion would break precedent in the House as he currently faces federal charges but has yet to be convicted. Bowman, who has already pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge related to the fire alarm incident, deserves to be expelled instead, Santos said.
“Let’s hold our own accountable but let’s make sure we deal with the precedent of the House,” he said.
Bowman dismissed Santos’ expulsion efforts, calling it in a statement, “another meaningless stunt in his long history of cons, antics, and outright fraud.”
The House is expected to vote on Santos’ expulsion on Friday.
While the embattled and indicted freshman GOP member broadly defended himself against the claims in the House Ethics Committee report, which accused him of misusing campaign funds for his own personal benefit, Santos declined to refute the details of the report.
Instead, Santos said he would “unpack it entirely” in the future, calling it “counterproductive” for him to pick apart the report at the current moment.