Newly Elected Republican Lied about his entire life

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A Republican-led resolution to expel embattled Rep. George Santos failed in the House on Wednesday night.

The push to try to oust Santos came from fellow GOP lawmakers in the New York delegation, who argue his past lies and embellishments about his personal history and his various legal entanglements make him unfit for office. Santos maintains his innocence after being indicted on a slew of federal charges.

Rep. Anthony D'Esposito on Thursday formally filed the expulsion resolution as privileged -- which forced the House to move quickly on Santos' possible removal. D'Esposito was joined by Reps. Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams.

The resolution needed a two-thirds majority to succeed, but fell well short. The final vote was 179 to 213 with 19 members voting present.

Santos defended himself on the House floor ahead of the vote, saying his colleagues were "prioritizing petty politics."

Republicans often count on Santos, who represents a swing district on Long Island, to help pass legislation in the House because of the party's single-digit majority. Newly-elected Speaker Mike Johnson has signaled concern that expelling him could endanger that.

While there have always been dishonest politicians, I have to think Trump had opened the gates for such blatant fraud this guy is now pulling.

Or maybe John Quincy Adams receiving the endorsement of House Speaker Henry Clay in exchange for a Presidential appointment as Secretary of State.

Yes, they were all U.S. presidents; and yes, they were all Republicans.

Embattled Rep. George Santos said Thursday he will not seek reelection in 2024 after the House Ethics Committee released a scathing report that concluded there is “substantial evidence” the New York Republican “violated federal criminal laws,” including using campaign funds for personal purposes and filing false campaign reports.

"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," Santos said in a statement on the social media site X.

In its wide-ranging 56-page report, the Ethics subcommittee tasked with investigating Santos found "a complex web of unlawful activity involving Representative Santos’ campaign, personal, and business finances. Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit."

"He blatantly stole from his campaign. He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit. He reported fictitious loans to his political committees to induce donors and party committees to make further contributions to his campaign—and then diverted more campaign money to himself as purported 'repayments' of those fictitious loans," the report continues.

Santos "used his connections to high-value donors and other political campaigns" to enrich himself, the report contends. "And he sustained all of this through a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff about his background and experience," it says.

In addition, the report says that Santos was “frequently in debt, had an abysmal credit score, and relied on an ever-growing wallet of high-interest credit cards to fund his luxury spending habits." He also made large cash deposits that he has not accounted for and made nearly a quarter million dollars in cash withdrawals for unknown purposes, the report alleges.

Specifically, the Ethics panel detailed a host of suspicious campaign expenditures it said did not appear to have a “campaign nexus.” They included spending at Hermes, Ferragamo stores, an Airbnb while Santos was on a Hamptons weekend getaway, Botox treatments and OnlyFans, a subscription-based site often used to host pornography.

The Ethics Committee said it is referring its findings, including "uncharged" conduct, to the Justice Department. It did not make a recommendation to the House.

Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., plans to file a resolution to expel Santos from Congress on Friday morning, a spokesman confirmed. And Democrats, including Rep. Dan Goldman of New York and Robert Garcia of California, said they would file their own expulsion resolutions.

The report comes two days after a former campaign fundraiser for Santos, Sam Miele, pleaded guilty to wire fraud. In his plea, Miele acknowledged having posed as former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's chief of staff while trying to raise money for Santos. He also admitted that he charged donors' credit cards without authorization for contributions to Santos's campaign. He did not implicate Santos in his plea, and his attorney would not say whether he is cooperating with the federal investigation into Santos.

Politicians and politics in general are slimier than an 80 lb. garden slug with a head cold.

I don't get this modern day political mania at all. And yet I'm the one with weird obsessions?