George Santos, Republican legislator for Long Island (New York), has been described as a fabricator, liar or thief, to use mild terms compared to some who are involved.
He had a mother who died in the Twin Towers, in the 9/11 attack in 2001, but, a biblical miracle, she continued to live until 2016 as if nothing had happened. In fact, he wasn’t even there, on that tragic day his son claimed he had been.
But of this kind of legislators, résumé falsifiers and criminals (in particular, Santos is still suspected), there have been quite a few in the United States: you already know that “all politicians lie”. However, the case of Santos, 35 years old and still a rookie (he made his debut in January), is different because until today, after his expulsion from Congress was confirmed, there had only been five cases. Three of them come from the Civil War, in the 19th century, when three Southern Democrats supported the Confederates. The other two, also Democrats, date back to 1980 and 2002. They were both fired after being convicted of corruption.
Yesterday was the third time that the House of Representatives put Santos’ fate to a vote. He survived the other two. This time the historic and final vote took place. Due to the mechanics of the institution, two thirds of legislators were required to endorse the measure. It took at least 77 Republicans to vote to send him home in disgrace. There were 105 who allied with the Democrats, 311 to 114. It was the end of Santos.
It should be emphasized that no sentence has yet been imposed on the New Yorker, who is awaiting trial on 23 charges. Much less a conspiracy in favor of the Confederacy. Santos argued these two factors in his defense, warned the House that they were rushing and that this could open the throne box against anyone who got bad press.
As a good manipulator, he wasn’t telling the whole truth. The Ethics Committee of the Lower House, chaired by a republican, made public a couple of weeks ago a very harsh report on his attitude and conduct. Santos did not tell the whole truth here either, because he himself has admitted that he lied time and time again. He claimed he was a victim of the human condition.
The so-called Great Prevaricater reached the peak of his career when he was impeached by Congress, his critics pointed out. This was his great work. He got it after the scathing Ethics Committee report, which highlighted that he spent his campaign donors’ money on Botox, parties, pornography, trips to the Hamptons or Las Vegas and luxury stores… Santos can end up in jail on charges of violating campaign laws, fraud, identity theft and a few more.
Neither his family survived the Holocaust, as he claimed, nor was he Jewish, nor did he go to the university he claimed he had attended. Nor did he work at Goldman Sachs or Citibank… New York Magazine made a list of his lies and there was a danger that before he finished reading the article a few more falsehoods would have surfaced.
The result of the vote was final and leaves another collateral damage among the conservatives. House Speaker Mike Johnson, an ultra-conservative, said on Thursday that everyone should act according to their conscience. But on Friday, before the vote, he took a position against the expulsion and recommended that they do the same. The result speaks clearly of the internal division.
As the vote was going and to avoid dishonor, Santos left the chamber before the expulsion was confirmed that will make him appear forever in the history of the USA. Once outside, he answered the journalists: “To hell with this place”.
