WASHINGTON – The US House Ethics Committee has found that Representative George Santos, the Long Island Republican who lied about being Jewish, likely committed “substantial violations of federal law”.
The committee referred its findings to the Department of Justice, where Santos is already under investigation. In response, Santos said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he would serve out his term but would not run again. Republicans and Democrats alike immediately said they would seek his expulsion before then.
“Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial gain,” the bipartisan report released Thursday said.
Santos lied about his family history and life story on the campaign trail, and the report touched on those fabulist tendencies at times. But its focus was on the fraud charges he now faces in federal court.
“Representative Santos has been the subject of extensive public reporting about his many alleged fabrications, including allegations that he lied about his degrees, religion, work experience, family and numerous other aspects of his biography,” it said. “But Representative Santos’ lies go far beyond inaccuracies on a resume.”
It listed the many fraud allegations Santos faces. “He has sustained all of this through a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors and staff about his background and experience,” it said.
Among Santos’ many lies is that he is descended from Jews and Holocaust survivors. When the revelations came fast and furious after his election a year ago, many of his fellow Republicans, including Jewish Republicans, rejected him and called on him to resign, citing among other things his fabrications about Jewish ancestry.
Santos, who has remained defiant, blasted the committee in his statement following the report, but also said for the first time that he would not run again.
“I am once again humbled and reminded that I am human and I have flaws, but I will not stand by and be stoned by those who have flaws themselves,” he said. “I will continue my mission to serve my constituents until I am allowed to do so. However, I will NOT be seeking re-election for a second term in 2024 because my family deserves better than to be under constant attack from the press.”
That may not be soon enough for his colleagues. Representatives Dan Goldman, a New York Democrat who is Jewish, and Michael Guest, the Mississippi Republican who chairs the committee, separately said they would launch efforts to expel Santos.
Santos represents a swing district and a number of Democrats have already lined up to replace him.