George Santos Says He’ll Run For Reelection Even If Expelled From Congress

Rep. George Santos, the embattled Republican dealing with a Home ethics probe and the potential for years behind bars after being indicted on federal expenses, stated he intends to run for reelection in New York even when he’s expelled from Congress.

“Elections are tricky; there’s no predetermined outcome,” he instructed CNN’s Manu Raju on Friday of his believed means to win in 2024. The Home Ethics Committee has signaled that it’s going to share an replace on its investigation on, or earlier than, Nov. 17.

Santos, whose full interview with Raju is ready to air Sunday, insisted that his private background wasn’t an element when his constituents voted for him and that it shouldn’t have an effect on him now.

“Nobody elected me because I played volleyball or not. Nobody elected me because I graduated college,” he stated, showing to acknowledge previous falsehoods he’d instructed about attending Baruch Faculty on a sports activities scholarship and going to New York College. He’s additionally accused of mendacity about his skilled profession and volunteer historical past, in addition to his household’s background and supposedly Jewish heritage. (HuffPost maintains a operating record of his claims.)

“Nobody knew my biography, nobody opened my biography who voted for me,” Santos instructed Raju, whereas denying that he’s completed something flawed.

It wasn’t till after he was elected final yr that discrepancies in his resume and background gained discover, prompting requires him to resign, which he has continued to disregard.

Lots of his Home colleagues have tried to forcefully oust him, however to date with out success.

On Wednesday he simply survived a vote to expel him from the chamber, with members finally deciding to let Santos keep till there are additional developments in his prison case or Home probe.

“Santos has not been criminally convicted yet of the offenses cited in the resolution, nor has he been found guilty of ethics offenses in the House internal process,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who voted in opposition to eradicating Santos this week, instructed Axios. “We can’t abandon due process and the rule of law in the House of Representatives.”

Santos’ prison trial is scheduled to begin in September 2024 ― two months earlier than he hopes to get reelected to New York’s third Congressional District.

He has pleaded not responsible to 23 federal expenses, together with fraud, cash laundering, id theft, and making materially false statements to the Home.

Santos allegedly stole the identities of his marketing campaign donors after which used their bank cards to ring up tens of hundreds of {dollars} in unauthorized expenses. A number of the cash ended up in his private checking account, prosecutors say.