The Indian Panorama

Tag: George Santos

  • George Santos faces new motion to expel him from Congress

    George Santos faces new motion to expel him from Congress

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Rep. George Santos will face a third vote to oust him from Congress the week after Thanksgiving as a growing number of lawmakers say they will back a new expulsion motion filed Friday, November 17, a day after the release of a scathing House Ethics Committee report, Newsday reported.

    Santos (R-Nassau/Queens), in an interview with Newsday Friday, November 17, defended some of the expenses cited in the report — such as payments for Botox treatments — accusing his former campaign treasurer of telling him the purchases were considered campaign expenses. His assertions came hours after House Ethics Committee Chairman Mike Guest (R-Miss.) on Friday filed a motion to expel Santos that is expected to start the process to require a vote within two legislative days when the House reconvenes on Nov. 28.

    Santos survived one expulsion vote on May 16, initiated by Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and another on Nov. 1 on a measure sponsored by Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park), but he may not dodge the third try after the release Thursday of a detailed and damning Ethics Committee report.

    A growing number of lawmakers who voted previously against expelling him say Santos no longer should be a member of the House after release of the 55-page report that laid out the case that Santos exploited his position for personal gain. Only five House members have been expelled — three for disloyalty in the Civil War era and two after being convicted of criminal activity. It takes two-thirds of those voting to approve a motion to expel, a high hurdle considering that Santos would be the first to be expelled while indicted but before conclusion of a trial.

    House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who had raised concerns about ousting Santos because of the slim Republican House majority and Santos’ due process rights, issued a statement Thursday night that did not discourage his Republican conference from ousting Santos.

    “As members from both parties, members of the Ethics Committee and Representative Santos return to Congress after the Thanksgiving break, Speaker Johnson encourages all involved to consider the best interests of the institution as this matter is addressed further,” Johnson spokesman Raj Shah said.

    At least three of the House Ethics Committee members — Guest (R-Miss.), Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) and Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.), the ranking member — said they would vote to expel Santos.

    “I think the fact that the Republican Ethics Committee chairman not only supports expulsion, but is leading the resolution to do it, is a good indicator that for some of my more senior colleagues following suit,” said Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Amityville). Also, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Rep. Jeff Jackson (D-N.C.), who were among the 31 Democrats who voted against expelling Santos earlier this month, said Thursday they would now vote to force him out of the House. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) said Thursday on MSNBC he would vote to expel Santos after having voted against expulsion earlier this month. Possibly easing concern over losing a Republican vote by expelling Santos is the special election on Tuesday to fill the House’s only current vacant seat in a majority Republican district in Utah, which could maintain the Republicans’ current eight-vote majority. After the report came out, Santos said he would not run for reelection.

    Santos, who faces trial in U.S. District Court in Central Islip in September on a 23-count federal criminal indictment, complained in a social media post Thursday about allegations in the Ethics Committee report about issues such as misuse of campaign funds. Santos has denied all the federal charges. “What the ‘ethics committee’ did today was not part of due process, what they did was poison a the (sic) jury pool on my ongoing investigation with the DOJ. This was a dirty biased act and one that tramples all over my rights,” Santos wrote.

    Santos told Newsday on Friday that several of the charges were campaign related, but never reported to the Federal Elections Commission by his former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks of Shirley.

    Asked about the $1,500 in charges for Botox cited in the ethics panel’s report, Santos said he was advised by Marks the cosmetic procedure was considered a campaign expense because it was “to keep fresh because of a campaign.” “I’ve always gotten my Botox on myself, I’ve always paid it out of my pocket, but then during the campaign, she told us it was covered,” Santos said.

    Marks’ attorney, Ray Perini, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Friday.

    Asked about a $12 expense for the OnlyFans adult website, Santos said the charge was made on his business credit card, not his campaign credit card. He denied making the charge and said he was looking into who was behind it.

    “It wasn’t put there because it was significant, it was put there to smear me,” Santos said.

    He said he would respond in further detail to the report at a Nov. 30 news conference on the U.S. Capitol steps — which could coincide with the vote to expel him.

  • House Ethics Committee Opens investigation into Congressman George Santos

    House Ethics Committee Opens investigation into Congressman George Santos

    WASHINGTON, DC (TIP): The House Ethics Committee has officially launched an investigation into Congressman George Santos, who is accused of lying about much of his biography.

    The committee announced in a release on Thursday, March 2,  that the probe will have jurisdiction regarding whether the Republican “may have 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; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office.”

    Santos’ response to the investigation came in a tweet: “The House Committee on Ethics has opened an investigation, and Congressman George Santos is fully cooperating. There will be no further comment made at this time.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said this week: “If ethics finds something, we’ll take action.” Santos previously told CNN that he was “not concerned” about the congressional investigation. The congressman faces investigations at the local, state and federal level, primarily with a focus on campaign funds. There have been numerous calls for him to resign, as Santos’ past has been scrutinized over fabrications about his heritage to his work history.

  • George Santos was paid for work at company accused of Ponzi scheme later than previously known

    George Santos was paid for work at company accused of Ponzi scheme later than previously known

    WASHINGTON, D.C. (TIP): Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who has admitted to fabricating key details of his biography, received payments as recently as April 2021 from a financial services company accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of a “classic Ponzi scheme,” according to a court-appointed lawyer reviewing the firm’s assets, a Washington Post report says.

    Santos did not divulge any income from the company, Florida-based Harbor City Capital, on a financial disclosure form required of all federal candidates. The payments the lawyer described to The Washington Post, which have not been previously reported, indicate that Santos received money at least a month after he has said he left the firm — and mere weeks before registering a business called the Devolder Organization that he has claimed as the basis for his wealth. The lawyer, Katherine C. Donlon, declined to tell The Post the amount Santos was paid.

    Santos, whose election to Congress from Long Island last year helped the GOP secure its narrow majority, has apologized for what he called “résumé embellishment,” but he has refused to step aside. On Wednesday, he rebuffed calls to resign from fellow New York Republicans, including leaders of the state GOP and the party in Nassau County, which had previously endorsed him. The congressman’s deceptions have already sparked an investigation by the district attorney’s office in Nassau County, as well as complaints before the Federal Election Commission. Authorities in Brazil are also seeking to revive a fraud case against Santos dating to 2008.

    During his first run for Congress in 2020, Santos reported earning a salary of $55,000 from a previous employer in the financial industry. His fortunes then improved dramatically, according to the financial disclosure he filed during his 2022 campaign: He earned an annual salary of $750,000 and received more than $1 million in dividends from the Devolder Organization. He also lent his campaign more than $700,000, according to campaign finance records. A key unanswered question is how Devolder made its money. The congressman has given various explanations about the firm — including saying it is an operation focused on “asset allocations” and an effort to help “all the people who were left adrift” at Harbor City.

    The financial disclosure form, filed in September of last year, covers earnings starting in January 2021 and anticipated through December 2022. It does not mention Harbor City.

  • George Santos Faces Calls to Resign

    George Santos Faces Calls to Resign

    WESTBURY, N.Y. (TIP): Dozens of Republican officials in New York State, including four recently elected congressmen, urged Representative George Santos, on Wednesday, January 11, to resign in a fracturing of local party support for Mr. Santos. Their call represented a sharp break from congressional Republican leaders, who insisted they would not push the embattled congressman to resign. Even as Mr. Santos’s former allies in New York insisted that his fabrications on the campaign trail had significantly violated the public trust, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that he not only would resist calls to push Mr. Santos out, but that he planned to seat him on a congressional committee.

    “The voters elected him to serve,” Mr. McCarthy told reporters in Washington, adding that Mr. Santos “has to answer to the voters and the voters can make another decision in two years.”

    Mr. Santos, who was elected to represent New York’s Third Congressional District, a consequential swing district in Queens and Long Island, emphatically resisted calls to leave office, saying on Twitter that he remained committed to serving the people of his district.

    The Nassau County party chairman, Joseph G. Cairo Jr., said that Mr. Santos, a first-term Republican, had lost the support of Republicans in his district, saying that Mr. Santos’s campaign was one of “deceit, lies, fabrication.”

    “He’s disgraced the House of Representatives, and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople,” Mr. Cairo said at the news conference. “Today, on behalf of the Nassau County Republican Committee, I am calling for his immediate resignation.”

    (Source: agencies)