New York Republicans, including Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, on Wednesday called for embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) to step down from office less than a week after he was sworn in as investigations into his finances, campaign spending, and background grow.
D’Esposito, joining a press conference by Nassau County Republicans via video, claimed Santos had violated the confidence and trust of “not only the voters but people across America.”
GEORGE SANTOS SCANDAL: A RUNNING LIST OF THE HOUSE REPUBLICAN’S MOST QUESTIONABLE CLAIMS
D’Esposito said he planned to ice out Santos in Congress and encouraged “other representatives in the House of Representatives to join me in rejecting him.”
Santos has been accused of fictionalizing large chunks of his resume and is facing multiple ethics complaints of improper campaign reporting and spending.
He has already been shunned by some members of his party following the wave of negative headlines that exposed the many fabrications he’s made about his life, education, family, faith, and work. The Long Island lawmaker has admitted to inventing parts of his backstory but has insisted that his work in the House of Representatives “is not about my personal life.”
Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo Jr. disagrees.
He said Republicans had lost confidence in the freshman lawmaker and claimed his campaign to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District was built on “deceit, lies, fabrication.”
“He’s disgraced the House of Representatives, and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople,” Cairo said. “I am calling for his immediate resignation.”
New York State Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar echoed the statement and called for Santos to resign voluntarily “out of respect for the public and the institution to which he was elected under false pretenses.”
“Mr. Santos’s profound use of mistruths as a candidate morally disqualifies him from serving in public office and exposes him to potential legal action, seriously compromising his ability to represent his constituents,” Kassar said.
Santos told reporters following the press conference that he would not resign, a position he has taken ever since the New York Times published a series of articles in December that questioned claims Santos made into nearly all aspects of his life.
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Newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said Wednesday that he would not be seating Santos on any top committees as he headed into a meeting in which committee assignments will be hashed out.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) has told reporters that the Santos situation is “something that’s being handled internally. Obviously, there were concerns about what we had heard, and so we’re going to have to sit down and talk to him about it.”
