WESTBURY, NY – Republican officials on Long Island, including Representative Anthony D’Esposito, urged Representative George Santos to resign on Wednesday as he faces multiple investigations into his finances, campaign spending and campaign falsifications.
Nassau County party chairman, Joseph G. Cairo Jr., said that first-term Republican Mr. Santos had lost the trust of Republicans in his district, saying Mr. Santos’ campaign was “deception, lies, fabrication”. ”
“He has discredited the House of Representatives and we do not see him as one of our congressmen,” Cairo said. “On behalf of the Nassau County Republican committee today. I request his immediate resignation,” he said.
Mr. D’Esposito, who participated via video from Washington, representing a region just south of Mr. Santos, said his Republican colleague had violated the trust of “people in America, not just voters”.
Mr D’Esposito said: “I will not engage with him in Congress and I will encourage other representatives in the House of Representatives to join me in rejecting him.”
More on the George Santos Debate
- Behind the Investigation:The Times reporters Michael Gold and Grace Ashford discuss how he was elected to Congress and how they discovered he was a fraud.
- go to Washington :Despite being under scrutiny for lies about his past, George Santos brings his saga to Capitol Hill, where he will face significant pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
- Encountered Questions:Federal and local prosecutors are investigating whether Mr. Santos has committed crimes or made false statements regarding his financial situation.
- Embroidered R summaries :While other politicians have misled the public about their past, few have done so as widely as Mr Santos.
The calls for Mr Santos’ resignation mark the toughest accusation ever against the congressman’s conduct, after The New York Times revealed that he made false claims about Mr Santos’ educational and professional background and raised questions about his job and financial disclosures. it does. and campaign costs.
They also add to the growing pressure facing Mr Santos, who is currently under investigation by federal and local prosecutors as to whether his financial deals or lying in campaign tracking warrant criminal charges.
Just this week, Mr. Santos, 34, has been the subject of two official ethics complaints. On Tuesday, two Democratic lawmakers filed a formal complaint asking the House of Representatives’ bipartisan Ethics Committee to investigate whether Mr.
A day earlier, the Campaign Law Center, a monitoring group, called on the Federal Election Commission to investigate the congressman and accused him of improperly using campaign funds for personal expenses, misrepresenting his spending, and concealing the true sources of campaign money.
Brazilian law enforcement also said they had rekindled fraud charges against Mr Santos in connection with an incident involving a stolen checkbook in 2008, after the case was disclosed in The Times report.
The calls for Mr Santos’ resignation mark a dramatic reversal of fate for the congressman. While some Democrats urged Mr Santos to resign, he largely did not, although other members of his party criticized him and in some cases suggested he was under further investigative scrutiny.
Cairo’s rebuke in particular represents a significant break between Mr Santos and an organization that has helped secure the congressman’s seat, which covers much of Nassau County and a much smaller part of northeastern Queens.
It also marks a sharp divide between local Republicans and their state and national counterparts. In the weeks since The Times reported, House spokesman Kevin McCarthy has remained largely silent on the ongoing debate, although he told CNN reporter he did not expect Mr Santos to take up positions on selection committees.
Mr. Santos supported Mr. McCarthy in his long struggle to become a speaker last week. However, Mr. McCarthy did not publicly comment on reports by CNBC and The Washington Times that someone working on Mr. Santos’ campaign was impersonating Mr. McCarthy’s chief of staff to raise money from donors.
On Tuesday, Republican majority leader, Louisiana Representative Steve Scalise said the party leadership would “internally” address questions about Mr Santos, but acknowledged there were “concerns” he and others wanted addressed. “This will work itself out,” Elise Stefanik, the third-ranked New York representative to the House of Representatives, told a Spectrum News reporter.
Other grassroots Republicans have been more outspoken in their condemnation. Representative Nick LaLota, another first-term lawmaker representing parts of Long Island, called for a House ethics inquiry last month. Representative Anthony D’Esposito, whose district includes parts of Nassau County, told NBC News on Tuesday that he also supports the ethics investigation.
On Tuesday, South Dakota Representative Dusty Johnson told CNN he doesn’t believe Mr Santos should sit on House committees “until we have a deeper understanding of what exactly is going on with his campaign.”
After Mr Santos admitted to The New York Post that he had lied about parts of his past, Mr Cairo said he was “deeply disappointed” by the incident, which he called Mr Santos’ “general apology”.
Days later, Cairo said the Nassau County committee would not support Mr Santos if he ran for his seat again in 2024, but still did not call on Mr Santos to resign.