House Ethics Committee will let George Santos off without any recommended punishment

Following a months-long investigation, the House Ethics Committee will not recommend any punishment for Rep. George Santos (R-NY).

On Wednesday, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), the committee’s chair, said that it would release a report on its findings later this week and allow members of Congress to decide whether Santos should be expelled, ABC News reports.  

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Santos campaign fundraiser pleads guilty to wire fraud

Sam Miele is the second Santos campaign staffer to plead guilty to criminal charges.

“The investigative subcommittee decided that they were going to compile the report, they would release the report to the, to the members, into the public, and based upon that, then our members can take whatever action that they felt necessary,” Guest said.

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Santos faces a total of 23 federal charges of fraud and financial crimes related to his 2022 campaign to represent New York’s Third Congressional District. Last month, he pleaded not guilty to all charges, and a trial date has been set for September 2024.

Two former Santos campaign staffers have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges. One, Santos’s former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks, has implicated him in a scheme to provide the FEC with a list of false donors to his campaign and has indicated she would be willing to testify against him.

Santos has also admitted to fabricating large parts of his personal history during his election campaign. In July, out Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and other House Democrats introduced a resolution to censure Santos for lying about his personal and professional life in order to get elected. Late last month, Santos survived an attempt led by his fellow New York Republicans to expel him from Congress. He has repeatedly said he has no intention of resigning and will seek re-election, though he will face numerous Republican primary challengers.

According to ABC News, members of the House Ethics Committee contacted at least 40 witnesses, reviewed 170,000 pages of documents, and authorized more than three dozen subpoenas in the course of its investigation of Santos’s 2022 campaign. But Guest said that recommending action against the out Republican would have required a much longer process.

In January, the House’s slim Republican majority passed new rules that weakened the power of the Office of Congressional Ethics. Santos, who at the time already faced multiple ethics complaints, called the move “fantastic.”

On Wednesday, several New York Republican members of Congress said that they would again try to expel Santos after the Thanksgiving recess.

“The substance in the report will drive other members to get to yes,” Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) told ABC News.

“The report is going to affirm and confirm what we already know: George Santos is a fraud; he should not be a member of Congress,” said Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY).

Santos has remained defiant, again vowing to try to remain in office. “I will take whatever comes my way, the way it comes,” he said.