The congressman spent campaign funds on luxury goods, cosmetic procedures, and OnlyFans.
After an eight-month investigation, a damning report by the House Ethics Committee has revealed a lot about New York Rep. George Santos — including his predilection for using his campaign coffers to shop at Sephora and luxury designers like Hermès.
On Thursday, the subcommittee found “substantial evidence” that the congressman broke multiple laws, including using campaign funds for “personal purposes,” like a $4,127.80 designer bag. In the wake of these findings, Santos announced that he won’t be seeking a second term.
“I will continue on my mission to serve my constituents up until I am allowed. I will however NOT be seeking re-election for a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time,” Santos said in a statement on X.
But this is far from the first time the New York congressman has found himself in hot water. Last month, Santos pleaded not guilty to multiple federal counts, including identity theft, money laundering, and theft of public funds. This new report also comes just two days after one of his staffers pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme that consisted of impersonating the then-chief of staff for former House speaker Kevin McCarthy to attract donors.
But will Santos really serve out the rest of his term amid all of these legal battles? Not if some of his fellow lawmakers have anything to do with it. We’ve got more on that below — but first, let’s take a closer look at what else the report uncovered.
What did the House Ethics Committee find?
In a sprawling 56-page report, the bipartisan panel said it found a “complex web of unlawful activity involving Representative Santos’ campaign, personal, and business finances.”
Congressional investigators accused Santos of “blatantly” stealing from his campaign by pocketing money from his supporters. He was part of a scheme to use an outside firm known as RedStone Strategies to funnel $50,000 of campaign money (received in separate $25,000 amounts from two contributors) into his personal bank accounts.
On top of his Hermès and Sephora purchases, he then used these funds to pay off credit card bills and other debts, as well as to make a few “smaller purchases” on OnlyFans, a subscription-based website featuring adult content. He also used campaign money for $1,500 and $1,400 charges that were noted as “Botox” by his former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks.
While Santos has previously blamed Marks for “errors and omissions” found in his campaign finance reports, the subcommittee’s members said that the congressman was “actively conspiring” with her to falsify campaign finance reports.
Will George Santos face additional charges?
Ultimately, the committee decided not to bring specific charges against Santos because it didn’t want to interfere with the Department of Justice’s own “ongoing and active prosecution.” Instead, it referred its findings, including “uncharged” conduct, to DOJ officials.
Santos is already facing 23 federal criminal counts — all of which he denies. In May, he faced 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 U.S. House of Representatives. Then in October, he was charged with 10 more, accusing him of several counts of fraud, such as racking up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on credit cards belonging to some of his donors.
These misdeeds seem to be part of a pattern. Shortly after being elected last year, The New York Times reported that Santos misled or lied about his background, including everything from his education and career to his ties to the Holocaust and Judaism.
Will George Santos stay in office?
The committee didn’t make a formal recommendation to expel Santos, but there appears to be growing momentum to do so.
A group of New York Republicans, including Rep. Mike Lawler, have already vowed to introduce a resolution to remove Santos, but that likely won’t happen anytime soon, Congress is scheduled to be off next week for Thanksgiving (and then during most of December).
While Santos has already beaten two expulsion attempts, it’s unclear whether he’ll be able to survive another. Several lawmakers who opposed his removal, including Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin and Republican Rep. Ken Buck, have said they would vote to expel him. (They initially argued that moving forward with such a move before he was convicted of a crime would be “a terrible precedent to set.”)
If Santos was ultimately removed from Congress, it would be nothing short of historic. The House has expelled only five members in its history — three during the Civil War for supporting the Confederacy, and two following public corruption charges.
