New York (AP) 鈥 Rep. George Santos has said he expects to be expelled from Congress following a scathing report by the House Ethics Committee that found substantial evidence of lawbreaking by the New York Republican.
In a defiant speech Friday sprinkled with taunts and obscenities aimed at his congressional colleagues, Santos insisted he was 鈥渘ot going anywhere.鈥 But he acknowledged that his time as a member of Congress, at least, may soon be coming to an end.
鈥淚 know I鈥檓 going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor,鈥 he said Friday night during a conversation on X Spaces. 鈥淚鈥檝e done the math over and over, and it doesn鈥檛 look really good.鈥
The comments came one week after the Republican chairman of the House Ethics Committee, Michael Guest, introduced a once the body returns from Thanksgiving break.
While Santos has survived two expulsion votes, many of his colleagues who formerly opposed the effort now say they support it, citing the into a wide range of alleged misconduct committed by Santos.
The report found Santos used campaign funds for personal purposes, such as purchases at luxury retailers and adult content websites, then caused the campaign to file false or incomplete reports.
鈥淩epresentative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit,鈥 investigators wrote. They noted that he did not cooperate with the report and repeatedly 鈥渆vaded鈥 straightforward requests for information.
On Friday, Santos said he did not want to address the specifics of the report, which he claimed were 鈥渟landerous鈥 and 鈥渄esigned to force me out of my seat.鈥 Any defense of his conduct, he said, could be used against him in the brought by federal prosecutors.
Instead, Santos struck a contemplative tone during the three-hour livestream, tracing his trajectory from Republican 鈥渋t girl鈥 to 鈥渢he Mary Magdalene of the United States Congress.鈥 And he lashed out at his congressional colleagues, accusing them of misconduct 鈥 such as voting while drunk 鈥 that he said was far worse than anything he鈥檇 done.
鈥淭hey all act like they鈥檙e in ivory towers with white pointy hats and they鈥檙e untouchable,鈥 he said. 鈥淲ithin the ranks of United States Congress there鈥檚 felons galore, there鈥檚 people with all sorts of shystie backgrounds.鈥
His decision not to seek reelection, he said, was not because of external pressure, but due to his frustration with the 鈥渟heer arrogance鈥 of his colleagues.
鈥淭hese people need to understand it鈥檚 done when I say it鈥檚 done, when I want it to be done, not when they want it to be done,鈥 he added. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of where we are there.鈥
