George Santos rails against congressional shysties, drunks, hypocrites, pointy hats, & a p*s*y
“Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
— Dylan Thomas
The clock ticks to midnight
Pick your metaphor — “dead man walking” is as good as any. Rep. George Santos (R- NY) is watching the sand flow through the hourglass of his political career. He himself had put a ‘sell-by’ date on his time in DC by announcing, on Nov 16, he would not stand for reelection. But that declaration will soon be rendered irrelevant, as the House looks likely to oust him on their third attempt. Santos is not happy.
Background
Jan. 10, 2023, days after the start of the new Congress, as the new Representative’s distaste for reality became evident, Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Ritchie Torres (D-NY), filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee over Santos’ alleged “failure to file timely, accurate and complete financial disclosure reports.”
Jan 11th, four of Santos’s fellow freshman NY Republicans demanded his resignation. The new GOP House leadership, clinging to a razor-thin majority, refused to pursue the matter.
May 10th, federal prosecutors charged Santos with fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and false statements.
Oct 10th, the feds added additional charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements, falsification of records, aggravated identity theft, and credit card fraud.
Nov 1st, a second attempt to oust the notorious fabulist ended well short of the required 2/3 majority. Some Republicans will excuse anything in a teammate. Some Democrats worried about setting a bad precedent. And other members said they were waiting for the Ethics Committee’s report outlining just how deep Santos’ personal cesspit is.
Nov 16th, the Ethics Committee published its report. It was bloody. As Politico reported:
"The explosive report released Thursday by the House Ethics Committee found that Santos spent campaign funds on Botox treatments and lavish Atlantic City trips with his husband. It also details the New York Republican’s efforts to obscure his money trail, as he sought to build a “fictional” financial narrative on official records, according to the 55-page report.
“At nearly every opportunity, he placed his desire for private gain above his duty to uphold the Constitution, federal law, and ethical principles,” the report reads. “Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.”
Nov 17th, Committee Chair, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) filed a resolution to expel Santos.
Santos shares his thoughts
Nov 24th, Santos launched a three-hour livestream tirade. He made his feelings about his fellow Representatives clear. He singled out Guest and demanded that he:
“be a man and stop being a pussy and call the damn motion.”
He accused Congress as a whole, without a trace of shame, of conduct unbecoming, saying:
They “act like they’re in ivory towers with white pointy hats, and they’re untouchable.”
Adding: “Within the ranks of United States Congress, there’s felons galore, there’s people with all sorts of shystie backgrounds.”
And saying some of his colleagues are “more worried about getting drunk every night with the next lobbyists they're going to screw” than doing their jobs.
Santos then explained his reason for bringing his congressional career to a close:
“I’m not running for reelection because I don’t want to work with a bunch of hypocrites. It’s gross.”
He remained defiant:
“They want to kick me out of a job they didn’t put me in. I’m not leaving. Come hell or high water, it’s done when I say it’s done.”
However, he admitted that things did not look good for him:
“I know I’m going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor. I’ve done the math over and over, and it doesn’t look really good.”
Then Santos yo-yoed back to defiance:
"I don't care. You want to expel me? I'll wear it like a badge of honor. I'll be the sixth expelled member of Congress in the history of Congress. And guess what? I'll be the only one expelled without a conviction."
No doubt this sense of self-worth and historical ground-breaking will comfort him as he contemplates his life choices from the tender embrace of a federal prison — after he has added a conviction to his resume.