On Thursday, the House Ethics investigative subcommittee released its scathing report on Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. Shortly thereafter, Santos announced that he wouldn’t run for re-election in 2024. But as with anything Santos-related, it’s important to take everything he says with a grain of salt. After all, to use a phrase directly from the subcommittee’s report, Santos’ latest promise could be just “another lie.”
House Republicans have continually sidestepped responsibility for Santos’ remaining in power, with a majority of GOP members voting twice against expelling him. Some have claimed they were waiting for the committee’s report to drop before taking action. Now that the investigative subcommittee has “determined there was substantial evidence that Representative Santos violated federal criminal laws,” those members are out of excuses. But with the committee stating it would “not bring specific charges” against him and Santos signaling his intention not to run again, he’s making a gamble that he’ll wriggle out of consequences. And it just might work.
Even for Santos, the attempt to distract from the Ethics report was too heavy-handed.
“If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the ‘Ethics committee’, they would have not released this biased report,” Santos posted on X on Thursday morning. “The Committee went to extraordinary lengths to smear myself and my legal team about me not being forthcoming (My legal bills suggest otherwise).”
His post on X runs over 300 words — a length available only to users who pay to use the platform — and makes a wide range of accusations and peculiar calls to action. But the most important bit is buried in the sixth paragraph. “I will continue on my mission to serve my constituents up until I am allowed,” he wrote. “I will however NOT be seeking re-election for a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time.”
Even for…
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