George Santos must resign, Nassau Republicans say, but Santos digs in

Nassau Republican chairman Joseph Cairo and other top party leaders called Wednesday for the immediate resignation of Rep. George Santos (R-Nassau/Queens), saying Santos' lies had "disgraced the House of Representatives."

At a news conference attended by dozens of top Republicans, including new GOP Rep. Anthony D'Esposito via video conference, Cairo said Santos' congressional campaign had been one of deceit.

“His lies were not mere fibs — he disgraced the House of Representatives and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople,” Cairo said.

Recent media reports have revealed that Santos lied about his educational background, work history and financial standings and suggested he misrepresented his family’s Jewish heritage, among other things.  A 2020 resume provided by Santos to the GOP surfaced Wednesday in which he claimed to have graduated in the top 1% of his class at Baruch College and to have earned an MBA from New York University in 2013. He admitted last month that neither is true.

Santos, stepping outside his congressional office on Capitol Hill Wednesday, told reporters "I will not" when asked if he would resign.

About 30 Republican officials — including Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and all three Nassau town supervisors — attended the news conference at county GOP headquarters in Westbury.

The officials said they are refusing to work with Santos, and are directing constituents to D'Esposito's office for help. District offices typically help constituents with services such as obtaining passports or nominations for service academies.

“George Santos does not have the ability to serve here in the House of Representatives and should resign,” said D’Esposito (R-Island Park).

Santos takes to Twitter

Santos in a Tweet Wednesday said he was disappointed to hear that, but that the actions of his fellow Republicans would not change his mind.

“I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living. I will NOT resign!” he wrote.

Cairo announced in December that the committee would not support Santos for reelection in 2024, but local public officials on Wednesday gave the strongest rebuke of the congressman yet, using terms like “national joke” and “fraud” to describe him. Cairo confirmed the Nassau GOP committee had returned $126,725 given to the party by a Santos-tied PAC, Rise NY.

Asked about his decision to call for Santos' resignation now and not sooner, Blakeman said he believes in due process, but couldn’t “stomach” Santos' lies anymore. Blakeman, who is Jewish, said he was particularly offended by Santos' claims that his grandparents escaped the Holocaust.

"It is simply tragic and outrageous and disgusting," Blakeman said.

In an interview with Anderson Cooper late Wednesday on CNN, Blakeman said of Santos: "He has no concept of the scope of his untruths. … if he wants to do the right thing he should resign and seek professional help."

House Ethics Committee could play a role

GOP officials admitted there is little they could do to force Santos to resign, but noted that the House could take action against him. The House could discipline him through its Ethics Committee, which reviews and passes judgment on complaints about conduct. 

The most severe punishment the committee can administer is expulsion, which requires two-thirds vote of the House and was last used in 2002, followed by a censure, which requires a majority vote and was last used in 2012. The committee can also reprimand members, strip their committees, seniority or privileges.

Earlier this week, two New York House Democrats filed a complaint with the Ethics Committee asking it to investigate Santos’ financial disclosures. Meanwhile, Santos is facing probes from federal and state prosecutors over his business and campaign finances. 

Stanley Brand, who previously served as general counsel to the U.S. House, told Newsday in a phone interview that while there is public pressure for the House Ethics Committee to open an investigation into Santos, the bipartisan panel may decide to delay opening an investigation. Such a delay would avoid conflicting with any ongoing law enforcement investigations into Santos including those reportedly being conducted by federal investigators from the Eastern District of New York.

“There is precedent for the committee to stay its hand until the criminal process completes because they don't want to get into complications with witnesses," Brand said.

Rina Shah, a Washington, D.C.-based Republican strategist who previously worked as a senior congressional aide, told Newsday in an interview, "[House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy must decide whether Santos remains, but for a party that ran on delivering results — keeping this con man in their ranks does them no favors."

Cairo said the county will conduct more thorough background searches for future candidates following the revelations about Santos' claims.

Santos resume for congressional run didn't raise red flags

GOP officials also on Wednesday for the first time released the resume Santos submitted to them in 2020 when he first ran for Congress. The document claims he earned a 3.89 GPA at Baruch and that he earned a score of 710 on the GMAT before earning a MBA from New York University. He also claims to have worked for Citi Group as an asset manager associate between 2011 and 2014 and for Goldman Sachs as a project manager in 2017.

Santos has admitted to lying about attending Baruch and NYU and acknowledged he never worked directly for Goldman Sachs or Citi Group.

Cairo said Santos gave detailed accounts of his past that the chairman now knows are fabricated but at the time did not raise any flags. Santos had said he was a striker on the Baruch College volleyball team and led the college to victory.

“[He said] that he was a star on the Baruch volleyball team and that they won the league championship,” Cairo said. “What can I tell you?”

Asked whom the GOP would support if Santos were to leave office and there were to be a special election to fill the seat, Cairo declined to answer, calling the question “premature.”

State GOP chairman Nick Langworthy in a statement said he supported the calls from Nassau Republicans.

“It’s clear that he cannot be an effective representative and it would be in the best interest of the taxpayers to have new leadership,” Langworthy said.

With Laura Figueroa Hernandez and Tom Brune

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.