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The House will vote on an expulsion resolution introduced by Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California on Friday, Dec. 1, NBC News reports.
If Garcia’s resolution passes, Santos will become the sixth House member ever removed from office.
The Long Island Republican, whose 3rd District includes parts of Nassau County and Queens, easily survived a resolution to expel him that was brought by New York. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
In that vote, 182 Republicans and 31 Democrats voted against ousting him.
Friday’s vote comes weeks after the House Ethics Committee – made up of five Republicans and five Democrats – released a damning report unanimously concluding there was “substantial evidence” that Santos had broken the law.
Included in the report are allegations that he spent campaign money on the pornography site OnlyFans and at luxury store Hermes.
The committee said it was “immediately” referring its allegations to the Department of Justice.
Santos found himself in the committee’s sights in March 2023 after admitting that he lied about much of his background on the campaign trail.
He is already facing a total of 23 federal criminal counts, including identity theft, wire fraud, money laundering, and lying to Congress.
Two of his former campaign staffers have already pleaded guilty to federal crimes.
Speaking on the House floor Tuesday, Nov. 28, Santos once again vowed that he would not resign, and warned that expelling him would “set a dangerous precedent.”
“Are we to now assume that one is no longer innocent until proven guilty, and they are in fact guilty until proven innocent?” he said.
“Or are we now to simply assume that because somebody doesn’t like you they get to throw you out of your job?”
He went on to call the Ethics Committee investigation “incomplete, irresponsible, and littered with hyperbole and littered with biased opinions.”
Expulsion from Congress requires a two-thirds majority vote.
Only 20 federal lawmakers have been expelled in the nation’s history: 15 in the Senate and five in the House.
This continues to be a developing story. Check back to Daily Voice for updates.
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