July 17, 2023

House Democrats Prepare to Censure George Santos

Yet another stain to a stain-filled political career.

J. Scott Applewhite/ AP

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Three months after Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y) was indicted on 13 criminal counts, House Democrats plan to introduce legislation to formally censure the scandal-ridden New York Republican on Monday.

The measure, which follows an unsuccessful effort to expel Santos, is unlikely to pass the GOP-majority House. But a censure would force individual Republicans to go on the record with their stances on Santos and add yet another stain to the congressman’s stain-filled, brief political career.  

Shortly after getting elected to the House in November, Santos came under fire for a long list of lies he told about his life, including his educational background and job experience, as well as attracting allegations of financial fraud. Some of Santos’ alleged campaign donors, as my colleague Noah Lanard reported, don’t even seem to exist. The real possibility of jail time is now on the table after he was indicted on 13 felony counts for charges related to wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements to Congress.

Santos made headlines once again last week after a recently filed campaign finance report revealed that some of his donors appear to include supporters of Miles Guo, the exiled Chinese billionaire and Steve Bannon associate. Here’s a snippet from our scoop:

Of about 50 total contributors, the document listed about three dozen contributors spread across the country who mostly have Chinese names and who had each maxed out to Santos by donating $3,300, the legal maximum for the primary election. Together, this group pumped roughly $130,000 into Santos’ political bank account. This was hardly a coincidence. This band of financial backers appear to include supporters of Miles Guo, the exiled Chinese billionaire and Steve Bannon associate who was arrested in March for allegedly running a $1 billion fraud scheme.

This roster of donors represents almost all of the money Santos pulled in in the second quarter of this year. 

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