George Santos, American elected official, inveterate liar, indicted for fraud, keeps his seat in Congress

2023-11-02 04:30:29
George Santos, elected Republican from the State of New York in Washington, November 1, 2023. JULIA NIKHINSON / REUTERS

Republican elected official George Santos, whose lies have made the headlines of the American political and media world since his election at the end of 2022, will keep, at least temporarily, his seat in the United States House of Representatives, after the failure , Wednesday, November 1, of a vote aimed at excluding it.

An inveterate liar, indicted at the federal level for having defrauded his donors, accused of money laundering and electronic fraud, the 35-year-old elected official, who admitted to having deceived voters by inventing entire parts of his life – he notably claimed to be a graduate higher education or having professional experience in major American banks – was under threat of eviction. He is also accused of having received unemployment benefits during the pandemic when he was not entitled to do so.

But the motion to exclude it was rejected Wednesday evening in plenary session, receiving 179 votes in favor against 213 votes against.

Portrait: Article reserved for our subscribers United States: the political fiction of George Santos, tireless congressional mythomaniac

With Republicans holding only a narrow majority of four seats in the 435-seat House of Representatives, the ouster of Mr. Santos – a New York state lawmaker – would have made passing laws even more difficult. for the Republicans and for the new speaker, Mike Johnson. Many elected officials, including Republican colleagues of Mr. Santos, have however distanced themselves from the latter.

“We must expel this crook from the House of the People”

The ethics committee of the House of Representatives launched an investigation into the elected official in February but has not yet released its conclusions. He declared on Tuesday that he would announce his “next course of action” in the case by November 17.

Wishing for a quicker outcome, New York Republican elected official Anthony D’Esposito for his part recently tabled a bill allowing George Santos to be expelled if adopted by a two-thirds majority of the representatives present. “We must expel this crook from the House of the People”declared Mr. D’Esposito in a message published on X, the former Twitter.

Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers George Santos, the elected Republican who lied about his career, his family, his religion, his studies and his wealth

The House of Representatives has already excluded one of its own in the past. The latest example being Ohio Democrat James Traficant, ousted in 2002 on ten charges, including corruption.

The World with AFP