George Santos, a Republican legislator from Long Island (New York), has been called a fabulist, a liar or a thief, for using even mild terms compared to some who are dedicated to him. He had a mother who died in the Twin Towers, in the 9/11 attack in 2001, but, a biblical miracle, he continued living until 2016 as if nothing had happened. In fact, he was not even there that tragic day where his son said he was.
But there have already been quite a few of this type of legislators, resume falsifiers and criminals (specifically Santos is suspected, because there is no conviction yet), there have already been quite a few in the United States. ‘The Washington Post’ told more than 30,000 lies or exaggerations to Donald Trump during his tenure in the White House and remains the favorite to be the conservative candidate in the 2024 elections.
We already know that “all politicians lie.” The matter of Santos, 35 years old and still a ‘rookie’ or rookie (he debuted last January) is different because until today, after confirming his expulsion from Congress, there had only been five cases and three 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 sent away after being convicted of various corruption charges.
This was the third time that the House of Representatives put Santos’ fate to a vote. He survived the other two. On this occasion the historic and final vote took place. Due to the mechanics of the institution, two-thirds of legislators were required to endorse this measure. It took at least 77 Republicans to support sending him home in dishonor. There were 105 who allied themselves with the Democrats, 311 to 114. Santos was finished as a legislator.
And that the New Yorker, however, still has no sentence, waiting to go to trial for 23 charges, nor a conspiracy in favor of the Confederacy. And he argued these two factors in his defense, saying that they were hasty and that this could open a can of thunder against anyone who had bad press.
As a good manipulator, the whole truth was not there. The Ethics Committee of the Lower House, chaired by a Republican, issued a very harsh report a couple of weeks ago about his attitude. And Santos didn’t tell the whole truth either, because he himself has acknowledged that he lied again and again. He maintained that he was a victim of the human condition.
The so-called great prevaricator, who is not known if it is a demerit or a merit of his imagination, reached the peak of his career when he was dismissed from Congress, his critics pointed out. That was his great work. He reached that goal after that scathing ethics report, which highlighted that he spent the money of his campaign donors on botox, parties or pornography, on luxury trips to the Hamptons or Las Vegas, which devastated the stores of luxury. In addition, he could end up in prison for charges of violating campaign laws, fraud, identity theft and several more.
Neither his family survived the Holocaust, nor was he Jewish, nor did he go to the university he claimed to have attended (he later admitted that he has no university education), nor did he play volleyball, nor did he work at Goldman Sachs or City Bank,… The magazine ‘New York Magazine’ made a list of his lies and there was a danger that before finishing reading that article a few more falsehoods would have surfaced.
The result of the vote was final and leaves other collateral damage among the conservatives. The president or ‘speaker’ of the Lower House, Mike Johnson, an ultraconservative and ‘Trumpist’ nicknamed Maga Mike, said on Thursday that everyone should act according to their conscience. But on Friday, shortly before the vote, he explained that he was against the expulsion and recommended that they follow him to avoid this precedent. He voted no and half the party passed his advice, a clear demonstration of the lack of harmony and internal division.
Seeing how the vote was going and to avoid disgrace and embarrassment, Santos left the chamber before this ignominy was confirmed that will make him appear forever in the history of the country. Once outside he responded to journalists: “To hell with this place.”