George Santos top aide quits as expulsion calls grow over ethics report

Scandal-ridden New York rep bows out of 2024

Santos won’t seek re-election after critical ethics report

A top aide to George Santos has quit after the House Ethics Committee issued a damning report about the actions of the freshman Republican congressman.

Gabrielle Lipsky resigned as communications director on Friday, the day after the report found that the 35-year-old had violated ethics guidelines, the rules of the House and criminal laws, and that he had been aware that he was crossing the line.

House Ethics panel chairman GOP Rep Michael Guest of Mississippi filed a motion for Santos’ expulson on Friday. The chamber can take up the motion on 28 November upon lawmakers’ return from Thanksgiving recess.

Santos claimed that he’s the victim of “dirty” politics after announcing that he won’t seek re-election in 2024.

Mr Santos wrote on X that he wouldn’t be seeking “a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time”.

He later complained that he has suffered a “year from hell” and claimed that he’s a victim of the “poison” from the ethics committee.

Lamenting that he was just trying to “serve my country” by running for Congress, he claimed that his “rights” had been taken from him.

Key Points

• Santos was ‘ultimate beneficiary and knowing participant’ of campaign’s fraudulent reporting
• Santos behind ‘constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff'
• Santos slammed by fellow New York Republicans
• Santos could face post-Thanksgiving expulsion vote
• Santos staffers allegedly plotted to spy on media
• Communications director quits

[18 November 2023 01:00 · John Bowden]

9 May 2023: Criminal charges

Things took a major turn on 9 May, when Mr Santos was hit with 13 federal charges from the Justice Department.

The embattled congressman was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.

10 May 2023: Arrest

The day after the indictment was filed, Mr Santos was arrested after surrendering to authorities at a federal court on Long Island.

The indictment was unsealed, revealing that federal prosecutors accuse Mr Santos of lying on financial disclosure forms he filed to the House when he became a candidate.

[18 November 2023 02:00 · John Bowden]

10 October 2023: Superseding Indictment

The Justice Department handed down a 23-count superseding indictment months later, adding the charges of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, aking materially false statements to the FEC, falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, aggravated identity theft, and access device fraud.

The new charges revealed that Mr Santos allegedly stole his donors’ credit cards. In the case of one donor alone, Mr Santos is accused of trying to charge at least $44,800 to this contributor’s credit card without authorisation.

[18 November 2023 03:00 · John Bowden]

16 November 2023: Drops re-election bid

The House Ethics Committee released a report on the New York congressman, saying it had uncovered “substantial evidence” that Mr Santos broke federal laws.

The committee found that Mr Santos “knowingly” caused his campaign to file false FEC reports, used campaign funds for personal purposes, including OnlyFans, among other findings.

After the report’s release, Mr Santos announced he would not seek re-election in 2024. In a lengthy X post, he called the report a “disgusting politicized smear.”

[18 November 2023 05:00 · Gustaf Kilander]

House Democratic whip calls for Santos expulsion: ‘He must go'

[18 November 2023 07:00 · Amelia Neath]

Late-night shows roast George Santos after damning ethics revelations

Late-night show hosts seized the moment to give George Santos a huge roasting after a damming ethics report that revealed he spent campaign money on Botox and OnlyFans.

Mr Santos, who believes the report was a “dirty biased act and one that tramples all over my rights,” now faces a fresh motion to expel him from the House after his indictment of 23 federal charges in October as well as the new report.

Following the release of the document, the GOP New York representative announced in a series of tirades on X that he would not run for re-election in 2024. In the report, the House Ethics Committee accused the politician of lying about loaning personal money to his 2022 congressional campaign, then “paying himself back” for those fake loans with actual money.

He is also alleged to have spent donor money on personal indulgences such as Botox, Hermes merchandise, trips and an OnlyFans subscription.

Something that caught guest The Daily Show host Leslie Jones’ eye was the report noting Mr Santos’ “lavish” trips to Atlantic City. “Have you been to Atlantic City?” she inquired. “A ‘lavish’ trip there just means you don’t go home with bed bugs.”

READ MORE

[18 November 2023 09:00 · Amelia Neath]

‘He’s the youngest member of Congress by 1,000 years'

It was the Botox that bewildered Ms Jones’ co-host, Jordan Klepper, who pointed out Mr Santos’ relatively young age, 35.

“He’s the youngest member of Congress by 1,000 years,” according to Mr Klepper. “You don’t get Botox — just stand next to Mitch McConnell.”

“Exactly,” Ms Jones agreed. “He doesn’t need Botox. But the rest of them old-a** congressmen do.”

Santos, or rather comedian Nelson Franklin impersonating him, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s show in a bizarre skit pretending the politician was getting Botox before performing wild antics like stealing a cash register, hiring a hit man to break Mr Kimmel’s legs and flying a DeLorean to break himself out of prison in the year 2045.

[18 November 2023 11:00 · Amelia Neath]

‘If there are any fans of stupidity and corruption out there, you have joined us on the right night’

Stephen Colbert also chimed in on the recent report, called the politician a “slug under a rock you just turned over” and announced that “if there are any fans of stupidity and corruption out there, you have joined us on the right night.”

Mr Colbert then cut to a clip of an interviewee asking Mr Santos what he felt about the House Ethics report that was to be revealed, to which he said he had no “premeditated feelings” about it.

“No premeditated feelings, exactly what a sociopath wouldn’t say,” Mr Colbert chuckled.

“‘Today we bid farewell to grandma,” the late-night show said, impersonating Mr Santos.

“Let me just say to all of you I have not had a chance to Google the correct emotional reaction, but rest assured, like all of you, I am … angry? It’s hard to tell because of all the Botox.”

[18 November 2023 13:00 · Amelia Neath]

‘He’s got the shopping list of a 98-year-old oil tycoon’s 20-year-old wife'

Seth Myers also got in on the roasting action, saying that Mr Colbert’s list of possible purchases was that of a “lesser Kardashian.”

“He’s got the shopping list of a 98-year-old oil tycoon’s 20-year-old wife,” Mr Myers quipped.

Despite the report’s release on Thursday and Mr Santos’ announcement that he will not seek reelection, he has so far refused to stand down from Congress.

The expulsion motion can be taken up by the Chamber on 28 November, when lawmakers will return from Thanksgiving recess.

[18 November 2023 15:00 · John Bowden]

Botox, OnlyFans and a stay in the Hamptons: Key revelations from George Santos ethics report

The long-awaited House Ethics Committee investigation into embattled New York Rep George Santos is here, and boy is it a doozy.

A lengthy report from the committee published on Thursday stated that there was credible evidence to indicate that the Republican misused campaign funds for a wide range of personal expenses, committed fraud, and misled the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

It was a damning end to a months-long investigation which had, until now, been Mr Santos’s golden ticket to survive the repeated efforts by his fellow lawmakers — including Republicans from his own state — to kick him out of Congress. Now, his days in Congress are presumably numbered as it is overwhelmingly likely that the House will vote to expel him in the coming days.

Lawmakers tried as much only a few weeks ago, with Mr Santos being saved once again by colleagues who did not wish to set a precedent of prejudging a member under investigation by the Ethics Committee. The New York congressman was already facing numerous felony charges in New York under indictment from the Justice Department.

He will not run for re-election, according to a lengthy tirade posted to Twitter moments after the Ethics Committee report was released. Even that statement is a total reversal of a declaration he made to CNN’s Manu Raju less than a month ago in an interview.

In that same statement Thursday, he called for Americans to call a Constitutional Convention to radically reform Congress. This is unlikely to occur, and particularly so if it is championed by a congressman who has now admitted to fabricating nearly the entirety of his background and is known to have lied about everything from being descended from Holocaust survivors to seeing his mother die on 9/11.

Let’s dive into the Ethics Committee’s final report, which was referred to the Justice Department, and see what Mr Santos now stands accused of doing:

[18 November 2023 17:00 · John Bowden]

Fraud, fraud and more fraud

The congressman is, in short, accused of lying about loaning his own money to his 2022 congressional campaign, then “paying himself back” for those fake loans with real money.

Those fake loans topped $500,000 — no small amount. But that’s not the only fraud Mr Santos is accused of engaging in; he is accused of deceiving donors into giving money to RedStone LLC, ostensibly to support his campaign; in reality, that money was also used, according to the Ethics Committee, as a kind of slush fund for Mr Santos’s personal use.

He and his campaign are also accused of obtaining donors’ credit card numbers and stealing their identities.