New York Rep. George Santos, Mississippi Rep. Michael Guest.Photo:Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty; Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP

Mississippi Rep. Michael Guest to introduce a measure to expel George Santos from the House

Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty; Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via AP

Mississippi Rep. Michael Guest introduced a resolution on Friday to expel New York Rep.George Santos, a fellow Republican, just one day after a House Ethics report detailed"substantial evidence"that Santos had committed fraud.

In an announcement, Guest — who chairs the House Ethics Committee — said: “The evidence uncovered in the Ethics Committee’s Investigative Subcommittee investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment, is expulsion. So, separate from the Committee process and my role as Chairman, I have filed an expulsion resolution,“USA Todayreports.

That resolution will come to a vote sometime after the House returns from its Thanksgiving recess on Nov. 28.

This is the not the first effort to expel Santos from Congress. In October, a group of New York Republicans called for an expulsion vote whichfailed to succeedon Nov. 1.

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is followed by members of the media as he walks in the U.S. Capitol on April 26, 2023 in Washington, DC. Speaker McCarthy said they would vote on Wednesday, on a bill to raise the $31.4 trillion federal debt ceiling.

On Thursday the House Ethics Committee released a long-awaited report summarizing its monthslong probe into Santos.

The report released, however, was damning, with the subcommittee investigating Santos unanimously concluding that Santos allegedly “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct … and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House.”

“Representative George Santos cannot be trusted,” the report alleges. “At nearly every opportunity, he placed his desire for private gain above his duty to uphold the Constitution, federal law, and ethical principles.”

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 31: U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) leaves the Capitol Hill Club as members of the press follow him on January 31, 2023 in Washington, DC. Amid ongoing investigations into his finances, campaign spending and false statements on the campaign trail, Santos is reportedly recusing himself from his House committee assignments. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Thecommittee’s reportalleges that Santos “deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit.”

Elsewhere in the report, the committee details how Santos allegedly used campaign funds to pay down personal credit card bills and other debts, to buy Botox injections, and to make purchases at OnlyFans, Hermès and Sephora.

In May, Santos wasarrested and indictedon13 criminal countsalleging fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements; in October, prosecutors announced they hadadded 10 new chargesto the indictment, bringing the total number of criminal counts against him to 23. He haspleaded not guiltyto each charge.

Santos has so far refused to resign from Congress, but ended his2024 reelection campaignon Thursday after the House Ethics Committee revealed its findings.

source: people.com