by Arjun Singh
Republican Rep. George Santos of New York’s 3rd District announced that he will not seek reelection to the House of Representatives following the release of a report by the House Ethics Committee regarding his actions.
Santos was indicted by federal prosecutors in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York for a number of alleged felonies related to his 2022 congressional campaign, including wire fraud, false statements, identity theft and credit card fraud, among others. After the House Ethics Committee released a report corroborating the allegations of prosecutors following its independent investigation of the matter, Santos announced on Twitter that he would not seek re-election to his office in 2024.
“If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the “Ethics committee”, they would have not released this biased report. The Committee went to extraordinary lengths to smear myself and my legal team about me not being forthcoming (My legal bills suggest otherwise),” Santos wrote. “I will continue on my mission to serve my constituents up until I am allowed. 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.”
If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the “Ethics committee”, they would have not released this biased report. The Committee went to extraordinary lengths to smear myself and my legal team about me not being forthcoming (My legal bills suggest otherwise).
It is a disgusting…
— George Santos (@MrSantosNY) November 16, 2023
Following Santos’ election in 2022, he was the subject of an investigative report by The New York Times, which revealed that he had lied about much of his personal life while campaigning for office. Other investigative reports revealed that Santos, who is gay, had also performed as a drag queen in Brazil and attempted bigamy, by proposing marriage to a man despite being married to his wife.
Many Democratic and Republican members of Congress have called on Santos to resign from Congress early. At least three efforts have been made to expel Santos from the House of Representatives, which requires a two-thirds majority per the U.S. Constitution, though they have not been successful.
The National Republican Campaign Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Arjun Singh is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation.
