Indicted lawmaker George Santos expelled from US House

Transcript

00:00 Under clause 5d of rule 20 the chair announces to the house that in light of

00:04 the expulsion of the gentleman from New York Mr. Santos the whole number of the

00:08 house is now 434. By a vote of 311 to 114 US House Speaker Mike Johnson said

00:16 Friday that his chamber had voted to expel indicted New York Representative

00:20 George Santos over criminal corruption charges and accusations of misspending

00:25 campaign money. The vote to remove the freshman lawmaker exceeded the required

00:30 two-thirds majority. Santos who became only the sixth member to be expelled had

00:35 little to say to reporters afterward.

00:39 Unofficially already no longer a member of Congress.

00:44 He added to hell with this place according to media reports. Santos has

00:50 been mired in controversy since his November 2022 election. He has admitted

00:55 to fabricating much of his biography and federal prosecutors accuse him of

00:59 laundering campaign funds and defrauding donors. Santos has pleaded not guilty to

01:04 those charges. He survived a previous expulsion attempt in early November when

01:09 hundreds of representatives voted against his removal on the grounds that

01:13 his criminal case should be resolved first. A bipartisan congressional

01:18 investigation last month found that he charged almost $4,000 for spa

01:23 treatments including Botox to his congressional campaign account. He also

01:27 spent more than $4,000 of campaign money at the luxury retail store Hermes and

01:33 made smaller purchases from OnlyFans, an online platform known for sexual content.

01:39 That prompted several Republicans who backed him in November's vote to say

01:43 they would support kicking him out. Fellow New York Republican Representative

01:47 Mark Molinaro on Thursday explained why he would vote to remove Santos. He has

01:53 manufactured his entire life to defraud the voters of his district and honest

01:58 choice for a member of Congress. He has lied to donors and to colleagues taking

02:05 advantage of election law using campaign funds to personally benefit

02:10 himself and he has defamed not only his office but the institution itself. Santos

02:17 his expulsion reduces Republicans already slim majority to eight seats.

02:21 His district, which includes parts of New York City and Long Island, is seen

02:26 as competitive. Democratic New York Governor Kathy Hochul has to call a

02:30 special election to fill the seat.

02:32 Good job.