The panel that has been investigating the embattled congressman will not recommend any punishment when it releases its report later this week
The House Ethics Committee will not recommend that indicted Rep. George Santos be expelled from Congress, according to a statement given by Committee Chair Michael Guest to reporters on Wednesday.
Rep. Guest (R-Miss.) stated that the committee’s investigation into Santos (R-N.Y.), which began in March and is expected to provide an update on its findings later this week, will not include a recommendation regarding sanctions against the congressman. “There will not be a recommendation and — there will be a report as to what the findings of the investigation revealed. If the ethics committee were to make recommendations as to sanctions, it would have been a much longer process carried out probably well into the next year,” Guest said, adding that the decision regarding what to do about Santos’ future in government would be “up to each individual member.”
In October, the committee indicated that it had “contacted approximately 40 witnesses, reviewed more than 170,000 pages of documents, and authorized 37 subpoenas,” and was prepared to announce its next course of action “on or before November 17.”
The committee had been tasked with determining “whether Representative George Santos may have: engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign; failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House; violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office.”
Since the time the ethics investigation was launched, Santos has been criminally indicted in the state of New York. The Long Island representative was arrested in May on charges of wire fraud, money laundering, and lying to Congress. In October, a superseding indictment added additional charges related to an identity theft and money laundering scheme involving his campaign.
Santos survived an expulsion vote on the House floor earlier this month, with the backing of Republicans who have promised to protect Santos’ position in the chamber until the Ethics Committee finalizes its investigation. With Santos up for reelection in 2024, in a district where his antics have made him deeply unpopular, voters may be the ones who ultimately remove the embattled congressman from his seat.