George Santos top aide quits as expulsion calls grow over ethics report: Latest

A top aide to George Santos has quit after the House Ethics Committee issued a damning report about the actions of the freshman Republican congressman.

Gabrielle Lipsky resigned as communications director on Friday, the day after the report found that the 35-year-old had violated ethics guidelines, the rules of the House and criminal laws, and that he had been aware that he was crossing the line.

House Ethics panel chairman GOP Rep Michael Guest of Mississippi filed a motion for Santos’ expulson on Friday. The chamber can take up the motion on 28 November upon lawmakers’ return from Thanksgiving recess.

Santos claimed that he’s the victim of “dirty” politics after announcing that he won’t seek re-election in 2024.

Mr Santos wrote on X that he wouldn’t be seeking “a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time”.

He later complained that he has suffered a “year from hell” and claimed that he’s a victim of the “poison” from the ethics committee.

Lamenting that he was just trying to “serve my country” by running for Congress, he claimed that his “rights” had been taken from him.

Key Points

• Santos was ‘ultimate beneficiary and knowing participant’ of campaign’s fraudulent reporting

• Santos behind ‘constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff'

• Santos slammed by fellow New York Republicans

• Santos could face post-Thanksgiving expulsion vote

• Santos staffers allegedly plotted to spy on media

• Communications director quits

George Santos faces fresh motion to expel after ethics report

Friday 17 November 2023 14:40 , Gustaf Kilander

New York Republican Rep George Santos is facing a new motion to expel him from the House after the chamber’s Ethics Committee issued a damning report about the actions of the freshman congressman.

The report found that the 35-year-old had violated ethics guidelines, the rules of the House and criminal laws, and that he had been aware that he was crossing the line.

House Ethics panel chairman GOP Rep Michael Guest of Mississippi filed the motion on Friday. The chamber can take up the motion on 28 November upon lawmakers’ return from Thanksgiving recess.

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VIDEO: Digging into the Santos ethics report

Friday 17 November 2023 15:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Statement from House Ethics Committee chairman

Friday 17 November 2023 15:28 , Gustaf Kilander

Rep Michael Guest, chair of the House Ethics Committee

Santos to hold 30 November press conference on Capitol steps

Friday 17 November 2023 15:30 , Rachel Sharp

The New York lawmaker has announced that he will hold a press conference on the steps of the US Capitol in two weeks’ time.

“Press conference November 30th at 8am on The Capitol steps, I encourage ALL members of the press to attend. Happy Thanksgiving,” he added.

On Thursday, the House Ethics Committee released its damning report into the freshman congressman following a months-long investigation.

In it, the committee said it had uncovered “substantial evidence” that the GOP lawmaker broke federal laws and that he “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House”.

“In light of the ongoing criminal investigation into Representative Santos, and the ISC’s findings of additional uncharged and unlawful conduct by Representative Santos, the ISC recommended that the Committee immediately refer these allegations to the Department of Justice,” the panel wrote.

Santos splashed donor cash on a honeymoon to Las Vegas

Friday 17 November 2023 16:00 , Rachel Sharp

The committee found evidence that the debt-ridden Mr Santos used the money donors had paid to his campaign to fund his “luxury spending habits” including Botox treatments, OnlyFans payments and shopping trips to Sephora.

Mr Santos allegedly transferred the campaign funds into his own account, then spent $4,127.80 at Hermes and several smaller purchases at OnlyFans.

Over $2,000 of campaign money was spent at casino resorts on the Atlantic City strip while more than $1,500 was spent on Botox, the report finds.

Mr Santos also splashed donor cash on a honeymoon to Las Vegas and a $3,000 stay at an Airbnb in the Hamptons.

“Representative Santos was frequently in debt, had an abysmal credit score, and relied on an ever-growing wallet of high-interest credit cards to fund his luxury spending habits. He occasionally deposited large amounts of cash that he has never accounted for, moved money between his various bank accounts in a highly suspicious manner, and made over $240,000 cash withdrawals for unknown purposes,” the report read.

Santos refuses to stand down in face of expulsion and 23 criminal charges

Friday 17 November 2023 16:30 , Rachel Sharp

In October, Mr Santos was indicted on 23 federal charges in New York including campaign fraud, credit card theft and lying to the Federal Election Commission. Since then, two of his former staffers have pleaded guilty in the case.

Following the report’s release on Thursday, Mr Santos announced that he will not seek reelection – but continues to refuse to stand down from his role in Congress.

Writing on X, Mr Santos said he wouldn’t be seeking “a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time” as he lashed out at the ethics committee claiming it does not have “a single ounce of ETHICS”.

Pressure mounting on Republicans to vote to expel

Friday 17 November 2023 17:00 , Rachel Sharp

The findings laid out in the ethics report mark just the latest scandal to encircle Mr Santos after he was exposed for lying about a whole host of things on his resume, claiming that his mother died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and being accused of stealing funds raised for a disabled veteran’s dying service dog.

These growing scandals have led many within the GOP to deem him unfit for office.

Earlier this month, the embattled New York congressman survived an expulsion vote in the House of Representatives, brought to the floor by fellow Republican lawmaker Anthony D’Esposito. The resolution needed a two-thirds majority to succeed but fell well short.

Now, pressure is mounting on the Republican party to vote to expel him in light of the report revelations.

Others who voted to save Mr Santos in the last expulsion vote told Axios that this time round they will support his removal.

“He’s gone,” one House Republican said.

VIDEO: Rep. George Santos won’t seek reelection

Friday 17 November 2023 17:30 , The Independent

George Santos mocked by Fox News host for claiming he didn’t know what OnlyFans was

Friday 17 November 2023 18:00 , Lizzie Romain

A resurfaced clip shows George Santos denying any knowledge of the content platform OnlyFans, despite an ethics report detailing he spent campaign finance money on the platform in the months before.

In the interview from 30 March 2023, Fox News anchor Lisa Montgomery asked Mr Santos if he had an account. “I just discovered what OnlyFans was about three weeks ago,” he said. “I was oblivious.”

“You just can’t tell the truth”, Montgomery muttered.

The damning report, released on 16 November, found “grave and pervasive campaign finance violations” during his 2022 election campaign, including a personal subscription to the influencer platform.

The Republican New York Representative has announced he won’t seek re-election in 2024.

28 December 2022: Nassau County’s district attorney launches a probe

Friday 17 November 2023 18:30 , John Bowden

Nassau County’s district attorney delivered a sharp statement just before the new year, insisting that “no one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”

Again, it wasn’t clear what specific crime Mr Santos would supposedly be investigated for allegedly committing. But the district attorney of Nassau County is a Republican, and therefore her statement served as the first crack to appear in a dam protecting Mr Santos from the wrath of his own party.

“The numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning. The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress,” Anne T Donnelly said.

2 January 2023: Brazilian authorities come back to haunt George Santos

Friday 17 November 2023 19:00 , John Bowden

Happy New Year! While most Americans ring in the new year with champagne and late-night celebrations, George Santos wakes up the day after New Year’s Day to learn that he is now the only sitting member of Congress to face a serious international criminal investigation.

The New York Times, citing a spokesperson for prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro, reports that authorities intend to prosecute him for allegedly stealing a checkbook from an acquaintance of his mother and using it to make several purchases. The congressman has denied this.

10 January 2023: Rep Ritchie Torres and colleague formally request ethics probe

Friday 17 November 2023 19:30 , John Bowden

Not keen to let his new feud against George Santos go, Mr Torres and his New York ally Dan Goldman file a request for the House Ethics Committee to probe Mr Santos’s improper filing of financial disclosure forms.

11 January 2023: The GOP dam breaks

This marked the day that George Santos finally said goodbye to any immunity he had from attacks originating within his own party.

The Nassau County Republican Party held a press conference formally denouncing him as a member of Congress; it was attended by one of Mr Santos’s fellow GOP members, Anthony D’Esposito, who became the first sitting Republican to call for his ouster.

17 January 2023: Santos receives committee assignments

Friday 17 November 2023 20:00 , John Bowden

After days of reporters pressing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy about Mr Santos and whether he will be allowed to remain in Congress for two years, GOP leadership reveals that the extent of their punishment for Mr Santos’s countless lies will be assignments to smaller House committees with less desirable areas of expertise.

Mr Santos walks away from committee assignments with roles on two panels: the House Committee on Small Business, and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

‘They gathered 170,000 documents in this investigation'

Friday 17 November 2023 20:30 , Gustaf Kilander

17 January 2023: Rep Ritchie Torres holds press conference with ‘Concerned Citizens of NY03’

Friday 17 November 2023 21:00 , John Bowden

Still working to keep the pressure on his in-state rival, Mr Torres brought a number of Mr Santos’s constituents to a press conference and touted his “SANTOS Act” — legislation that would force congressional candidates to supply basic information about their backgrounds to the federal government under penalty for perjury.

18 January 2023: Eula Rochard blows the lid off of ‘Kitara Ravache’

Just when everyone thought this story couldn’t get any weirder, a Brazilian drag performer by the name of Eula Rochard contacted a freelance reporter, Marisa Kabas, and supplied a picture of Mr Santos in drag.

The congressman, she said, performed in drag under the moniker “Kitara Ravache” when he lived in Brazil as a teenager.

Mr Santos would go on to deny this, but subsequent photos and videos emerged prompting another admission by the congressman, as well as this defeated quip: “Sue me.” It’s later discovered that a Wikipedia user who went by Mr Santos’s alias “Anthony Devolder” bragged about performing at a number of shows.

23 January 2023: Poll shows majority of New Yorkers want Santos gone

Friday 17 November 2023 21:30 , John Bowden

Perhaps spelling Mr Santos’s final fate, voters in his district and elsewhere around the state signaled in a poll published Monday that they favour the congressman resigning rather than spending two years in office. Even a plurality of Republicans, 49 per cent, said so.

Wherever Mr Santos goes from here, it’s hard to see a path for the 34-year-old freshman to win a second term as he faces unprecedented condemnation from his colleagues in every corner of Washington and hungry rivals back home.

20 February 2023: The Piers Morgan interview

Friday 17 November 2023 22:00 , John Bowden

In an another attempt to move past the avalance of scandals which have buried Mr Santos for weeks, the New York congressman appears for an interview with British broadcaster and notoriously tough interviewer Piers Morgan.

Prompted by Morgan to distinguish the difference between mere “embelishments” of his resume and outright dishonesty, Mr Santos tells the journalist: “I’ve been a terrible liar”.

‘Time’s up George'

Friday 17 November 2023 22:45 , Gustaf Kilander

2 March 2023: Ethics investigation

Friday 17 November 2023 23:30 , John Bowden

On 2 March, the House Ethics Committee announced it was investigating Mr Santos.

In a statement, the panel said that an “Investigative Subcommittee” will determine whether the freshman Long Island, New York, congressman 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”.

17 April: Reelection bid

Saturday 18 November 2023 00:15 , John Bowden

Despite his escalating scandals, Mr Santos launched his reelection bid.

In his campaign announcement, he made no mention of the investigations or his ballooning falsehoods.

“We need a fighter who knows the district and can serve the people fearlessly,” he said.

9 May 2023: Criminal charges

Saturday 18 November 2023 01:00 , John Bowden

Things took a major turn on 9 May, when Mr Santos was hit with 13 federal charges from the Justice Department.

The embattled congressman was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.

10 May 2023: Arrest

The day after the indictment was filed, Mr Santos was arrested after surrendering to authorities at a federal court on Long Island.

The indictment was unsealed, revealing that federal prosecutors accuse Mr Santos of lying on financial disclosure forms he filed to the House when he became a candidate.

10 October 2023: Superseding Indictment

Saturday 18 November 2023 02:00 , John Bowden

The Justice Department handed down a 23-count superseding indictment months later, adding the charges of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, aking materially false statements to the FEC, falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, aggravated identity theft, and access device fraud.

The new charges revealed that Mr Santos allegedly stole his donors’ credit cards. In the case of one donor alone, Mr Santos is accused of trying to charge at least $44,800 to this contributor’s credit card without authorisation.

16 November 2023: Drops re-election bid

Saturday 18 November 2023 03:00 , John Bowden

The House Ethics Committee released a report on the New York congressman, saying it had uncovered “substantial evidence” that Mr Santos broke federal laws.

The committee found that Mr Santos “knowingly” caused his campaign to file false FEC reports, used campaign funds for personal purposes, including OnlyFans, among other findings.

After the report’s release, Mr Santos announced he would not seek re-election in 2024. In a lengthy X post, he called the report a “disgusting politicized smear.”

House Democratic whip calls for Santos expulsion: ‘He must go'

Saturday 18 November 2023 05:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Late-night shows roast George Santos after damning ethics revelations

Saturday 18 November 2023 07:00 , Amelia Neath

Late-night show hosts seized the moment to give George Santos a huge roasting after a damming ethics report that revealed he spent campaign money on Botox and OnlyFans.

Mr Santos, who believes the report was a “dirty biased act and one that tramples all over my rights,” now faces a fresh motion to expel him from the House after his indictment of 23 federal charges in October as well as the new report.

Following the release of the document, the GOP New York representative announced in a series of tirades on X that he would not run for re-election in 2024. In the report, the House Ethics Committee accused the politician of lying about loaning personal money to his 2022 congressional campaign, then “paying himself back” for those fake loans with actual money.

He is also alleged to have spent donor money on personal indulgences such as Botox, Hermes merchandise, trips and an OnlyFans subscription.

Something that caught guest The Daily Show host Leslie Jones’ eye was the report noting Mr Santos’ “lavish” trips to Atlantic City. “Have you been to Atlantic City?” she inquired. “A ‘lavish’ trip there just means you don’t go home with bed bugs.”

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‘He’s the youngest member of Congress by 1,000 years'

Saturday 18 November 2023 09:00 , Amelia Neath

It was the Botox that bewildered Ms Jones’ co-host, Jordan Klepper, who pointed out Mr Santos’ relatively young age, 35.

“He’s the youngest member of Congress by 1,000 years,” according to Mr Klepper. “You don’t get Botox — just stand next to Mitch McConnell.”

“Exactly,” Ms Jones agreed. “He doesn’t need Botox. But the rest of them old-a** congressmen do.”

Santos, or rather comedian Nelson Franklin impersonating him, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel’s show in a bizarre skit pretending the politician was getting Botox before performing wild antics like stealing a cash register, hiring a hit man to break Mr Kimmel’s legs and flying a DeLorean to break himself out of prison in the year 2045.

‘If there are any fans of stupidity and corruption out there, you have joined us on the right night’

Saturday 18 November 2023 11:00 , Amelia Neath

Stephen Colbert also chimed in on the recent report, called the politician a “slug under a rock you just turned over” and announced that “if there are any fans of stupidity and corruption out there, you have joined us on the right night.”

Mr Colbert then cut to a clip of an interviewee asking Mr Santos what he felt about the House Ethics report that was to be revealed, to which he said he had no “premeditated feelings” about it.

“No premeditated feelings, exactly what a sociopath wouldn’t say,” Mr Colbert chuckled.

“‘Today we bid farewell to grandma,” the late-night show said, impersonating Mr Santos.

“Let me just say to all of you I have not had a chance to Google the correct emotional reaction, but rest assured, like all of you, I am … angry? It’s hard to tell because of all the Botox.”

‘He’s got the shopping list of a 98-year-old oil tycoon’s 20-year-old wife'

Saturday 18 November 2023 13:00 , Amelia Neath

Seth Myers also got in on the roasting action, saying that Mr Colbert’s list of possible purchases was that of a “lesser Kardashian.”

“He’s got the shopping list of a 98-year-old oil tycoon’s 20-year-old wife,” Mr Myers quipped.

Despite the report’s release on Thursday and Mr Santos’ announcement that he will not seek reelection, he has so far refused to stand down from Congress.

The expulsion motion can be taken up by the Chamber on 28 November, when lawmakers will return from Thanksgiving recess.

Botox, OnlyFans and a stay in the Hamptons: Key revelations from George Santos ethics report

Saturday 18 November 2023 15:00 , John Bowden

The long-awaited House Ethics Committee investigation into embattled New York Rep George Santos is here, and boy is it a doozy.

A lengthy report from the committee published on Thursday stated that there was credible evidence to indicate that the Republican misused campaign funds for a wide range of personal expenses, committed fraud, and misled the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

It was a damning end to a months-long investigation which had, until now, been Mr Santos’s golden ticket to survive the repeated efforts by his fellow lawmakers — including Republicans from his own state — to kick him out of Congress. Now, his days in Congress are presumably numbered as it is overwhelmingly likely that the House will vote to expel him in the coming days.

Lawmakers tried as much only a few weeks ago, with Mr Santos being saved once again by colleagues who did not wish to set a precedent of prejudging a member under investigation by the Ethics Committee. The New York congressman was already facing numerous felony charges in New York under indictment from the Justice Department.

He will not run for re-election, according to a lengthy tirade posted to Twitter moments after the Ethics Committee report was released. Even that statement is a total reversal of a declaration he made to CNN’s Manu Raju less than a month ago in an interview.

In that same statement Thursday, he called for Americans to call a Constitutional Convention to radically reform Congress. This is unlikely to occur, and particularly so if it is championed by a congressman who has now admitted to fabricating nearly the entirety of his background and is known to have lied about everything from being descended from Holocaust survivors to seeing his mother die on 9/11.

Let’s dive into the Ethics Committee’s final report, which was referred to the Justice Department, and see what Mr Santos now stands accused of doing:

From Botox to OnlyFans: Key revelations in George Santos ethics report

Fraud, fraud and more fraud

Saturday 18 November 2023 17:00 , John Bowden

The congressman is, in short, accused of lying about loaning his own money to his 2022 congressional campaign, then “paying himself back” for those fake loans with real money.

Those fake loans topped $500,000 — no small amount. But that’s not the only fraud Mr Santos is accused of engaging in; he is accused of deceiving donors into giving money to RedStone LLC, ostensibly to support his campaign; in reality, that money was also used, according to the Ethics Committee, as a kind of slush fund for Mr Santos’s personal use.

He and his campaign are also accused of obtaining donors’ credit card numbers and stealing their identities.

Santos’ communications director quits

Saturday 18 November 2023 17:01 , Megan Sheets

George Santos’ communications director Gabrielle Lipsky has resigned in the wake of the ethics report on her longtime boss.

The Hill reported Ms Lipsky’s resignation on Friday, a day after the bombshell report found evidence that Mr Santos had broken federal law.

Ms Lipsky began working on Mr Santos’ campaign in April 2022.

The move means Mr Santos will have to find a new top voice in his office as colleagues gear up for an expulsion vote.

Misuse of campaign funds

Saturday 18 November 2023 19:00 , John Bowden

This is perhaps the widest variety of crimes Mr Santos is alleged to have committed — though not by much.

The congressman “was frequently in debt, had an abysmal credit score, and relied on an ever-growing wallet of high-interest credit cards to fund his luxury spending habits,” according to the investigative subcommittee. He used campaign funds to pay off those credit card debts in part, according to the Ethics Committee, while also making direct deposits from campaign accounts into his personal bank account.

He supposedly used these funds — transferred to his private accounts through various means — to make purchases at luxury brands including Hermes, on OnlyFans and for expensive meals.

False FEC reports

Saturday 18 November 2023 21:00 , John Bowden

No campaign-related fraud is complete without lying to the Federal Election Commission, and Mr Santos is accused of doing that too. This remains an issue being played out publicly in New York court, where two of his former campaign staffers have now pleaded guilty to finance-related crimes in connection with his campaign. One pretended to be a staffer for Kevin McCarthy. Another, his treasurer, is accused of filing false reports to the FEC detailing the congressman’s fictitious loans and other questionable spending. She has testified in court filings that Mr Santos knew about her activities; he has denied this.

But the House investigation makes it clear that Mr Santos’s own campaign staff described their finances as a “black box” controlled and viewed only by Mr Santos and the treasurer, Nancy Marks. Despite his public statements to the contrary, the subcommittee report described him as “highly involved in his campaign’s financial operations”, and also faulted him for ignoring warnings from his own campaign staff about Ms Marks and financial irregularities within the campaign’s spending reports.

“Even if Representative Santoswas not aware of all of the other errors in his campaign reports relating to other receipts and disbursements, he had his own concerns and was repeatedly advised by multiple members of his team about concerns regarding Ms. Marks, but he failed to take meaningful action,” the report found.

George Santos laments his ‘year from hell’ after ethics report release

Saturday 18 November 2023 23:00 , Rachel Sharp

George Santos has complained that he has suffered a “year from hell” following the release of a scathing House Ethics Committee report which found that he spent campaign donations on OnlyFans and Botox.

The embattled congressman and serial liar took to X late on Thursday night to paint himself as a victim of “dirty” politics and “poison” from the ethics committee.

Lamenting that he was just trying to “serve my country” by running for Congress, the man who has been exposed for lying about everything from 9/11 to being Jewish claimed that his “rights” had been taken from him.

“My year from Hell,” he began.

“Running for office was never a dream or goal, but when the opportunity to do so came I felt the time to serve my country was now.

“Looking back today I know one thing, politics is indeed dirty, dirty from the very bottom up. Consultants, operatives, the opposition, the party and more… the one thing I never knew was that the process in Congress was dirty. I will continue to fight for what I believe in and I will never back down.

“What the ‘ethics committee’ did today was not part of due process, what they did was poison a (sic) the jury pool on my on going investigation with the DOJ. This was a dirty biased act and one that tramples all over my rights.”

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Santos announces 30 November Capitol steps press conference

Sunday 19 November 2023 01:00 , Rachel Sharp

The New York lawmaker concluded by announcing that he will hold a press conference on the steps of the US Capitol in two weeks’ time.

“Press conference November 30th at 8am on The Capitol steps, I encourage ALL members of the press to attend. Happy Thanksgiving,” he added.

On Thursday, the House Ethics Committee released its damning report into the freshman congressman following a months-long investigation.

In it, the committee said it had uncovered “substantial evidence” that the GOP lawmaker broke federal laws and that he “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House”.

“In light of the ongoing criminal investigation into Representative Santos, and the ISC’s findings of additional uncharged and unlawful conduct by Representative Santos, the ISC recommended that the Committee immediately refer these allegations to the Department of Justice,” the panel wrote.

The committee found evidence that the debt-ridden Mr Santos used the money donors had paid to his campaign to fund his “luxury spending habits” including Botox treatments, OnlyFans payments and shopping trips to Sephora.

$1,500 spent on Botox

Sunday 19 November 2023 03:00 , Rachel Sharp

Mr Santos allegedly transferred the campaign funds into his own account, then spent $4,127.80 at Hermes and several smaller purchases at OnlyFans.

Over $2,000 of campaign money was spent at casino resorts on the Atlantic City strip while more than $1,500 was spent on Botox, the report finds.

Mr Santos also splashed donor cash on a honeymoon to Las Vegas and a $3,000 stay at an Airbnb in the Hamptons.

“Representative Santos was frequently in debt, had an abysmal credit score, and relied on an ever-growing wallet of high-interest credit cards to fund his luxury spending habits. He occasionally deposited large amounts of cash that he has never accounted for, moved money between his various bank accounts in a highly suspicious manner, and made over $240,000 cash withdrawals for unknown purposes,” the report read.

Indicted on 23 federal charges in New York

Sunday 19 November 2023 05:00 , Rachel Sharp

In October, Mr Santos was indicted on 23 federal charges in New York including campaign fraud, credit card theft and lying to the Federal Election Commission. Since then, two of his former staffers have pleaded guilty in the case.

Following the report’s release on Thursday, Mr Santos announced that he will not seek reelection – but continues to refuse to stand down from his role in Congress.

Writing on X, Mr Santos said he wouldn’t be seeking “a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time” as he lashed out at the ethics committee claiming it does not have “a single ounce of ETHICS”.

The findings laid out in the ethics report mark just the latest scandal to encircle Mr Santos, after he was exposed for lying about a whole host of things on his resume, claiming that his mother died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and being accused of stealing funds raised for a disabled veteran’s dying service dog.

‘He’s gone'

Sunday 19 November 2023 07:00 , Rachel Sharp

These growing scandals have led many within the GOP to deem him unfit for office.

Earlier this month, the embattled New York congressman survived an expulsion vote in the House of Representatives, brought to the floor by fellow Republican lawmaker Anthony D’Esposito. The resolution needed a two-thirds majority to succeed, but fell well short.

Now, pressure is mounting on the Republican party to vote to expel him in light of the report revelations.

Two lawmakers told Axios that Michael Guest, the chair of the Ethics Committee, is planning to file a resolution on Friday to expel Mr Santos from the House.

Others who voted to save Mr Santos in the last expulsion vote told the outlet that this time round they will support his removal.

“He’s gone,” one House Republican said.

George Santos won’t seek re-election after damning ethics report

Sunday 19 November 2023 09:00 , Gustaf.Kilander

Republican New York Representative George Santos has announced that he won’t seek re-election in 2024 following the release of a damning ethics report.

The freshman congressman made the revelation to Semafor on Thursday.

In a lengthy statement on X, Mr Santos wrote that he wouldn’t be seeking “a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time”.

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‘Engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act’

Sunday 19 November 2023 11:00 , Gustaf Kilander

The House Ethics Committee said in a statement on Thursday that Mr Santos “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House”.

“In light of the ongoing criminal investigation into Representative Santos, and the ISC’s findings of additional uncharged and unlawful conduct by Representative Santos, the ISC recommended that the Committee immediately refer these allegations to the Department of Justice,” the panel added.

‘Everyone who participated in this grave miscarriage of Justice should all be ashamed of themselves,’ Santos says

Sunday 19 November 2023 13:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Santos slammed the panel on X, writing: “If there was a single ounce of ETHICS in the ‘Ethics committee’, they would have not released this biased report. The Committee went to extraordinary lengths to smear myself and my legal team about me not being forthcoming (My legal bills suggest otherwise).”

“It is a disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk. Everyone who participated in this grave miscarriage of Justice should all be ashamed of themselves,” he added.

“All this Congress wants to do is attack their political enemies with tit for tat unconstitutional censures, impeachments, expulsions and ethics investigations,” Mr Santos wrote. “THE TIME IS NOW FOR THE STATES TO RISE UP AND COMMENCE AN ARTICLE V CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION! I’ve come to expect vitriol like this from political opposition but not from the hallowed halls of public service.”

‘George Santos is finally taking a step in the right direction'

Sunday 19 November 2023 15:00 , Kelly Rissman

Kellen Curry, a Republican running for the GOP nomination in Mr Santos’s district, told The Independent: “George Santos is finally taking a step in the right direction, but our country is at a crossroads.”

“Today marks the beginning of a renewed focus on the issues that matter, instead of the distraction of the last 11 months,” he added.

‘Santos should end this farce and resign immediately'

Sunday 19 November 2023 17:00 , Gustaf Kilander

George Santos, who has evaded two votes to oust him from the House, was severely criticised by his New York Republican colleagues.

“George Santos should end this farce and resign immediately,” Rep Mike Lawler told Semafor. “If he refuses, he must be removed from Congress. His conduct is not only unbecoming and embarrassing, it is criminal. He is unfit to serve and if he had any dignity, he would resign today.”

Fellow New York GOP Rep Nick LaLota told the outlet that Mr Santos “was never running for re-election” and noted that he thinks the legal and ethics investigations into him would end before election season.

“The question now is: Will he take a plea deal that includes resignation before November 28th when the House returns to session and can expel him?” he asked.

House Ethics Committee report finds ‘substantial’ evidence that George Santos broke federal laws

Sunday 19 November 2023 19:00 , Eric Garcia

The House Ethics Committee said that it found “substantial evidence” that Rep George Santos (R-NY) broke federal laws, in a report it released Thursday morning.

The House Ethics Committee – a bipartisan committee made up of members from both parties – released its report on Thursday after a months-long investigation into the embattled freshman Republican.

In a press statement on the report, the committee alleged that Mr Santos “knowingly” caused his campaign committee to file false and incomplete reports to the Federal Election Commission; used campaign cash for personal expenses; engaged in fraudulent conduct with Redstone Strategies, a company he co-owned; and committed “knowing and willful violations” of the “Ethics in Government Act.”

“In light of the ongoing criminal investigation into Representative Santos, and the ISC’s findings of additional uncharged and unlawful conduct by Representative Santos, the [Investigative Subcommittee] recommended that the Committee immediately refer these allegations to the Department of Justice,” the committee said in a statement.

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‘A constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff’

Sunday 19 November 2023 21:00 , Eric Garcia

The House Ethics Committee launched its investigation into Mr Santos earlier this year into whether he engaged in illegal activity during his 2022 congressional campaign. In May, the committee expanded its investigation.

“He used his connections to high value donors and other political campaigns to obtain additional funds for himself through fraudulent or otherwise questionable business dealings,” the report said. “And he sustained all of this through a constant series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff about his background and experience.”

Mr Santos began to come under serious scrutiny almost as soon as he flipped a district that includes parts of Queens and Long Island that had voted for President Joe Biden in 2020, as Republicans barely gained the majority in the US House of Representatives. News reports shortly thereafter revealed that he had fabricated multiple parts of his life story, including where he went to college, his employment history and even his ethnicity.

The report said that Mr Santos was the “ultimate beneficiary and knowing participant” of much of his campaign’s fraudulent reporting, since they allowed him to meet benchmarks to receive national party support.

‘He failed to take meaningful action'

Sunday 19 November 2023 23:00 , Eric Garcia

Much of the report focused on Mr Santos’s relationship with his campaign treasurer Nancy Marks. Last month, Ms Marks pleaded guilty to felony wire fraud, among other charges, to help Mr Santos’s campaign. The report said that Mr Santos put most of the blame on Ms Marks.

“Even if Representative Santos was not aware of all of the other errors in his campaign reports relating to other receipts and disbursements, he had his own concerns and was repeatedly advised by multiple members of his team about concerns regarding Ms Marks, but he failed to take meaningful action,” the report said.

Similarly, the report found that Mr Santos did not loan his campaign money that he had reported he did in his campaign finance disclosures. The committee found that Mr Santos’s campaign did not have enough money to pay its outstanding debts, with one staffer going eight months without pay.

Along with fraudulently reporting loans he never made, the committee also alleged that Mr Santos spent campaign money for personal use. Among the expenses, the Office of Congressional Ethics found that Mr Santos traveled out of his district at least once a month.

‘A disgusting politicized smear’

01:00 , Eric Garcia

The report also examined Mr Santos’s use of Redstone Strategies, a limited liability corporation affiliated with him, and how at least $200,000 worth of money was transferred from its account to Mr Santos’s personal account. After one $50,000 transfer, Mr Santos paid down credit card debt, made a $4,127.80 purchase at Hermes and smaller purchases at OnlyFans and Sephora as well as for meals and parking.

“As detailed above, there is substantial evidence that Representative Santos participated in and financially benefited from a fraudulent scheme involving RedStone,” the report said. “Representative Santos furthered the scheme through lies and misrepresentations about the nature of his connection to RedStone, just as he had done with a predecessor company, Red Strategies.”

But Mr Santos released a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, pushing back on the accusations, specifically the claim that he did not comply with the investigation.

“It is a disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk,” he said. “Everyone who participated in this grave miscarriage of Justice should all be ashamed of themselves.”

The report comes shortly after the House of Representatives held a vote to expel him led by his fellow New York Republicans. But the resolution failed, with many Democrats voting against the expulsion.

Late last month, Mr Santos appeared in court to be arraigned on new criminal charges after a superseding indictment accused him of additional charges on top of the ones he had already received, including making tens of thousands of charges on credit cards that belonged to donors.

So far, Mr Santos has defiantly refused to resign. Despite the fact that many Republicans in his home state and elsewhere want him to resign, Republican leadership is reluctant to push him out because they have a slim majority where they can only afford to lose four members on any given vote.

The incredible rise and dramatic fall of George Santos

03:00 , Bevan Hurley

Congressman George Santos’ tenure has been anything but dull — his rise to power and fall from grace have been equally mired in controversy.

After less than two years in Congress, his list of lies and scandals appears to have finally grown too long for him to defend anymore, as he announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2024 after the release of a damning House Ethics Committee report.

The committee said it found “substantial evidence” that Mr Santos had broken federal laws after finding “additional uncharged and unlawful conduct,” which included using campaign funds to make purchases at Hermes, Sephora and OnlyFans.

In 2022, Mr Santos was elected as the Republican Party’s first openly gay, non-incumbent member of Congress, and touted himself as a living embodiment of the American dream.

But he has since been exposed as a serial fabricator, and now an accused criminal.

Here’s what we know about the rise and demise of George Anthony Devolder Santos.

A ‘first generation American’

05:00 , Bevan Hurley

Given his prodigious propensity for telling fibs, basic details of Mr Santos’ personal history, such as his real name, marital status, and precisely where he was born merit a healthy dose of skepticism.

According to his congressional website, Mr Santos is a “first generation American” born in Jackson Heights, Queens, in July 1988. His parents were both Brazilian immigrants – Fátima Devolder, who worked as a housekeeper, and Gercino Antônio dos Santos Jr, a house painter. He has a younger sister, Tiffany Lee Devolder Santos.

Former co-workers who worked with Mr Santos at Dish Network in College Point in 2011 and 2012 told Patch that he used to tell them he was born in Brazil. Then, he was known as Anthony Devolder or George Devolder.

His true birthplace is significant because the Constitution requires members of Congress to have been US citizens for seven years before election. Mr Santos has claimed in interviews that he is a dual citizen of Brazil and the United States.

Tiffany Bogosian told the Washington Post that even at a young age, Mr Santos would fabricate parts of his biography. She put this down to his impoverished background, and said he had still been learning English while at junior high and was bullied during his time there.

From 2008 to 2011, Mr Santos lived in Brazil where his mother was living at the time.

In 2008, Mr Santos was accused by Brazilian authorities of using a stolen checkbook and fake name at a clothing shop outside Rio de Janeiro. Citing court documents, the New York Times reported that Mr Santos told police in 2010 that he and his mother had stolen a checkbook from a man that she used to work for, and used it to make $1,300 in illegal purchases of clothes and shoes.

In March, Mr Santos admitted the crime and agreed to pay the victim back as part of a non-prosecution agreement, CNN reported.

On the campaign trail, Mr Santos repeatedly claimed that he is of Jewish descent and that his grandparents were European Jews who fled Hitler.

Jewish cultural groups and online sleuths later unearthed records showing his grandparents were born in Brazil.

Mr Santos later clarified to the New York Post that he had said he was “Jew-ish”.

‘Sue me’

07:00 , Bevan Hurley

While living in Brazil, Mr Santos also reportedly performed as a drag queen named Kitara Ravache as a young man.

In January, Brazilian drag artist Eula Rochard posted photos to social media herself with a person wearing a red dress, bright red lipstick and dangling chandelier earrings who she identified as Mr Santos.

Journalist Joâo Fragah also said he had interviewed Mr Santos in costume.

A Politico investigation later found that a user on Wikipedia named Anthony Devolder claimed to have participated in drag shows in Brazil as a teenager.

Mr Santos issued a furious denial of the claims on social media, at a time when his Republican Party was vilifying and seeking to ban drag queens from performing in some states.

He called allegations that he “‘performed’ as a drag Queen is categorically false.” However, the next day, Mr Santos appeared to admit that he had participated in drag. “I was young and I had fun at a festival. Sue me for having a life,” he said.

He moved back to New York in 2011, working as a bilingual customer services representative at a call centre for Dish Network, a satellite TV firm, in Queens, where he would have earned about $15 an hour.

Mr Santos exhaled a stream of lies over a series of interviews: he alleged to have graduated from NYU business school, played as a star vollyeball player at Baruch College, attended the elite private school Horace Mann in New York, but failed to graduate due to financial difficulties, and worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. These claims have either been disproven or not substantiated.

In February, the non-profit Reclaim the Records obtained court records showing he married a Brazilian woman in 2012. His former wife, who has not been identified, filed for divorce in 2019.

He has since said he is married to a Brazilian man, whom he identified by the first name of Matt. He reportedly told Brazilian publication Piaui in November 2020 that his husband’s name is Matheus Gerard.

Early political career

09:00 , Bevan Hurley

Mr Santos’ murky and ever-changing biography makes it difficult to parse fact from fiction during his early forays into politics.

In 2018, he began volunteering for the campaign of Republican Vickie Paladino, who was running for state Senate. He reportedly boasted of his ties to Wall Street donors who could contribute, but did little actual work.

The next year, he reportedly made his first attempt to get elected to Congress, but failed to secure enough signatures to get on the Queens County Republican Committee.

That month he launched his campaign for the United States House of Representatives in New York’s 3rd Congressional District in 2020 against Democratic incumbent Thomas Suozzi.

No other candidates put their names forward. When pressed by reporters why he lived out of the district, he claimed to reside at an address that turned out to be his treasurer’s.

He lost the general election by about 46,000 votes, but still exceeded Republican expectations for the strongly Democratic district. He refused to concede the election.

Mr Santos spoke at the Stop the Steal rally at the ellipse in Washington DC on the day of the Capitol riots on January 6, claiming his election had been stolen. A roommate would later claim that Mr Santos had worn his stolen $520 Burberry scarf to the rally.

In 2020, while running for Congress, he began working at Florida investment firm Harbor City Capital, which was later accused in a civil lawsuit by the Security and Exchange Commission of running a $17m Ponzi scheme.

He has publicly denied any involvement in the alleged fraud.

‘He’s most likely just a fabulist’

11:00 , Bevan Hurley

Soon after his 2020 election defeat, Mr Santos began raising money for the next congressional race.

New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who is now the third-ranking Republican in the House, endorsed him in 2021.

Later that year, a vulnerability study commissioned with Mr Santos’ approval found alarming revelations, and many of his staffers resigned, according to the Times.

Among other things, it found he had falsely claimed to have been endorsed by Mr Trump, along with many of the lies about his job history and personal wealth that have since been revealed.

Congressional leaders learned of his deceptions by 2022. According to the Times, Dan Conston, the leader of the Kevin McCarthy-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund, tried to circulate the report’s findings to prominent donors.

Two pieces of luck helped paved the way for his election to Congress in 2022: Thomas Suozzi, the 3rd District’s incumbent lawmaker, announced he would not seek re-election and redistricting amounted in a new congressional district map gerrymandered to add a swathe of Republican areas.

Mr Santos again ran unopposed for the Republican nomination, and faced Democrat Robert Zimmerman in the general election, the first House race between two openly gay candidates.

Still, Mr Santos went on to take the district that November by eight points.

Santos’ lies revealed post-election

13:00 , Bevan Hurley

A bombshell New York Times report on 19 December revealed to a broader audience for the first time many of Mr Santos’ fabrications and lies about his employment and education history.

A flood of further embellishments soon followed, including the 9/11 -related death of his mother, claims he had been a producer on the failed Broadway production of Spider-Man, how he had cheated associates out of clothes and cash, and had stolen $3,000 that had been raised to save a disabled veteran’s pet dog.

A pressure group formed by citizens in his 3rd Congressional District began holding protests outside his campaign office to try to force his expulsion from Congress.

As Mr Santos’ pile of scandals grew, he threw himself behind Kevin McCarthy’s campaign for Speaker of the House.

Mr McCarthy welcomed the support given his razor-thin majority, and refused to take action on any of the mounting ethical scandals, even as a growing number of New York Republicans called for him to be removed from Congress.

At the State of the Union in February, Mr Santos had an altercation with Mitt Romney after the Utah Senator told him he didn’t belong in Congress and “should be embarrassed.”

“Tell that to the 142,000 who voted for me”, Mr Santos reportedly replied.

Following the speech, Mr Romney called the New York Republican a “sick puppy.”

In March, the House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into whether Mr Santos had “engaged in unlawful activity”.