The Department of Justice made a declaration on May 10, accusing Rep. George Santos (R-NY) of various serious crimes such as money laundering, lying to Congress, embezzling public funds, and wire fraud. Following this, Democratic lawmakers are taking steps to censure him.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) released a statement on July 17, informing the public about his intention to introduce a resolution for censuring Santos due to his “conduct unbecoming of a member of Congress.” This misconduct includes dishonesty towards his constituents, the American people, and donors regarding both his professional and personal life.
Torres alleged that Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was shielding Santos from facing consequences for his actions. According to the New York Democrat, Republicans voted to retain Santos in his position and assured that the Ethics Committee would address the matter within 60 days. However, that timeframe has elapsed, as stated by Torres. He urged fellow members of Congress to back his motion to censure Santos and to cease treating him as if he were immune from accountability.
The breadth and depth of George Santos's lies and deception are so staggering that it cries out for Congressional punishment.
— Rep. Ritchie Torres (@RepRitchie) July 18, 2023
A public censure is a step toward long-overdue accountability after months of inaction by @HouseGOP.
Doing nothing is no longer an option. pic.twitter.com/REbCGTsYgt
The resolution grants Torres the authority to call for a vote on the measure within 48 hours. However, he has not presented it formally yet and has not specified when he plans to do so. An aide from Democratic leadership mentioned that the resolution will probably be introduced before Congress enters its August recess if the House Ethics Committee has not taken any action by that time.
While Democrats are spearheading the censure resolution, it’s not just them who have expressed concerns about Santos. Long Island Republicans have also demanded his resignation from office. In January, they held a press conference where they strongly criticized the congressman for deceiving his constituents.
Santos was discovered falsely claiming to his constituents that he was Jewish, despite belonging to a Catholic family. Additionally, he made an unfounded statement about his mother surviving the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, even though she was not present in the city that day. More recently, Santos has drawn criticism for likening himself to the civil rights icon Rosa Parks.
