House Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, Republican of Mississippi, is the GOP representative of New York. Jorge Santos on Friday introduced a resolution to expel him from Congress.
Lawmakers are expected to take up the resolution at the end of the month after returning from the Thanksgiving break.
In its report, the ethics committee said Santos’ additional “uncharged and illegal conduct” is beyond the criminal charges already pending against him, and will immediately refer the charges to the Justice Department for investigation. The committee concluded that Santos “attempted to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own financial gain.”
Santos, who has been out of Congress since January, announced he would not run for re-election following the publication of the committee’s report, though he denied the investigation, calling it a “biased report”.
Santos has pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges, including fraud related to Covid-19 unemployment benefits, misusing campaign funds and lying about his personal finances in House disclosure statements.
Santos, who has faced calls for his resignation from both Democrats and Republicans throughout the year, has fended off several attempts to oust him from the House.
In early November, a Republican-led effort to oust Santos failed. Several lawmakers expressed concern over the prospect of expelling a member who faces an ongoing legal battle and not facing criminal charges. Ahead of the vote, Santos defended his right to the “presumption of innocence.”
In May, the House voted to refer a Democratic-led resolution to oust Santos to the Ethics Committee.
This story has been updated with additional updates.
