Embattled Rep George Santos (R-NY) delivered a defiant press convention early Thursdasy morning as he faces an expulsion vote on Friday.
The embattled Republican freshman rolled into his press convention in a black Jaguar SUV and criticised the truth that he could be becoming a member of 5 different members of Congress who have been both members of the Confederacy or convicted criminals.
“So if I’m to get expelled tomorrow, I might be quantity six within the historical past of the primary Republican and the one one and not using a conviction or with out having dedicated treason,” he stated.
The Home of Representatives is about to vote on whether or not to expel Mr Santos on Friday. The vote comes after the Home Ethics Committee–a bipartisan committee–released a report detailing how Mr Santos used marketing campaign money to make private bills, filed false marketing campaign finance experiences to the Federal Election Fee and engaged in “figuring out and willful violations” of the Ethics in Authorities Act.
However Mr Santos used his press convention to not refute the particular allegations within the report.
“It’s counterproductive for me to take action presently,” he instructed reporters on Thursday morning. “There might be a time that I’ll unpack it completely and go line by line.”
Mr Santos criticised the Ethics Committee saying that he complied with the investigation, though the report stated he didn’t cooperate.
“No first rate cop would deliver this to a prosecutor or a DA and say, here is our report, go forward and cost it,” he stated.
Reasonably, Mr Santos selected to record a sequence of unrelated grievances, blaming Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for protesters crucial of Israel confronting cops in the course of the Rockefeller Middle Christmas tree lighting.
He additionally criticised the truth that the Home was not voting to expel Rep Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) after Mr Bowman pulled a hearth alarm throughout a Home vote in September, which prompted him to say that he would file a privileged movement to expel the New York Democrat. This got here regardless of the Ethics Committee selected to not examine Mr Bowman.
“Let’s maintain our personal accountable however let’s ensure that we do it with the precedent of the Home,” he stated.
The Home will maintain a full vote on expelling Mr Santos on Friday. The vote would require a two-thirds of the Home to take away the freshman Republican member.
Mr Santos has confronted scrutiny ever since his election when information experiences confirmed he fabricated a number of elements of his life’s story in addition to his skilled historical past. The vote would be the third effort in a yr to take away Mr Santos from the Home.
Throughout his press convention, he talked about how some members have “extreme allegations towards them,” however when requested about who they have been, Mr Santos refused to present names.
“Why do I’ve to do your job for you,” he stated in response to a query from The Unbiased. “You guys like digging up stuff on me. Why do not you go dig up and different members?”