House ethics report shows it's time for Santos to go

Bye, George.

The process is finally catching up with the chameleon who won a Long Island congressional seat based on lies, deceit and cunning. The damning ethics report released by the House of Representatives Thursday provided the facts to gird what we already knew — George Santos can’t be trusted, he is without scruples, he is a national embarrassment.

Santos already has been charged in a 23-count federal indictment, and could wind up in prison for violating federal laws which seek to make elections honest and candidates accountable. Two cohorts, including former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks, have already pleaded guilty to enabling his misdeeds and stand ready to testify against him to save themselves. That federal prosecution, a different legal process that will play out in the courts, will afford him the due process rights foundational to our justice system.

The breadth of the finding by the bipartisan Ethics Committee, however, makes it clear Santos can no longer serve as representative of the 771,000 residents of New York’s 3rd District which comprises almost half of Nassau County and northern Queens.

With the report finally released, notably after the November election cycle, Speaker Mike Johnson should immediately call a vote to expel the 35-year-old fraudster. The committee, while not formally recommending expulsion, a move it said would further delay Santos’ reckoning, said his conduct “warrants public condemnation, is beneath the dignity of the office, and has brought severe discredit upon the House.” The committee found “substantial evidence” that Santos was at the center “of a complex web of unlawful activity” that included filing false reports with the Federal Election Commission and false House financial disclosure statements. He used the campaign funds of Long Island donors for Botox injections, Hermes luxury goods, visits to porn sites, and trips to Atlantic City.

Expulsion requires a two-thirds vote of the chamber and, historically, only two other members have been tossed out for misconduct or criminal activity. It’s not a move to be undertaken without serious deliberation and Santos has already survived two previous attempts. Removing him would trigger a special election so the district can choose a new representative. Santos, who fits every definition of sociopath, released a statement saying he’s the real victim and sought to stave off an expulsion vote by saying he wouldn’t seek reelection. Santos is too delusional to realize that all the marinara sauce in Nassau County couldn’t create enough of a red wave to return him to Congress in 2024.

For all of Santos’ attempts at camp and comedy, his astonishing lies and rule-flaunting are a distressing reminder of our broken politics. When platitudes and attitudes pass for substance, disillusioned and disengaged voters can be primed to believe a con man. Santos revealed the rot eating away our election system. Purging Santos from Congress is not annulling the will of voters; it’s the only credible way to prove that our system of government can work.