Republican George Santos Faces 23 criminal charges and possible Congressional expulsion

Eduardo Munoz | Reuters

George Santos, the disgraced freshman Republican Congressman and pathological liar, is now facing 23 criminal charges (courtesy of a superseding federal indictment) and a renewed effort to expel him from Congress.

Santos, who infamously lied about important aspects of his biography—including religion, education, work history, philanthropy—has been under federal indictment for months. The recently released superseding indictment adds an additional 10 counts, including conspiracy, wire and credit card fraud, false statement, aggravated identity theft, and falsification of records.

To make matters worse for Santos, the day after the superseding indictment was publicized, several of his fellow Congressional Republican colleagues from New York—including Anthony D’Esposito, Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Nick Langworthy, and Brandon Williams—announced they would sponsor a resolution to immediately expel him from Congress.

It remains to be seen whether the rest of the Republican conference will put principle before pursuit of power by joining the New Yorkers’ resolution. Previously, former-Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other Republican leaders declined to echo calls for his resignation and were largely content to protect Santos from expulsion due to the razor thin Republican margin in the House. Despite this, 80% of Santos’s own constituents want him to resign.

In contrast, 31 Senate Democrats called for the resignation of Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey within days of his indictment by the Justice Department. By comparison, Republicans are utterly lethargic in attempting to hold their own members to account.