Expulsion of Representative George Santos

Floor Speech

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Mr. IVEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on this solemn occasion to urge my colleagues to take the rare step of exercising the expulsion clause of the United States Constitution.

Congressman George Santos has failed to uphold the principles of scrupulous, selfless public service. He has violated the law and he has violated this body's ethics rules.

As a member of the Ethics Committee, I can report that the evidence against him is substantial and damning. I can also report that there was no rush to judgment.

During the course of our investigation, the Ethics Committee authorized 37 subpoenas, issued 43 requests for information, obtained and reviewed over 172,000 pages of documents, interviewed over 40 witnesses, and reviewed relevant public information, including the Federal indictments in the criminal case in New York.

Our bipartisan investigation revealed that he laundered $50,000 of his campaign donors' money through two personal accounts and spent it on himself on designer clothes, a car payment, a credit card, and personal debts.

He cheated the government out of $24,000 in unemployment benefits during the pandemic when he was earning a salary of $120,000 from an investment firm.

He lied and said he loaned his unsuccessful campaign for Congress over $80,000, and repaid himself for the fictitious loan, netting a personal profit of $27,000.

In the second--this time successful campaign for Congress--he lied again, this time to the tune of $500,000.

He also transferred and hid from the FEC a sum of $50,000 from his congressional campaign to his State Political Action Committee. He spent over $40,000 of campaign funds on personal expenses, like expensive travel and meals, casino stays, an adult website, and cosmetic procedures, personally enriching himself at his donors' expense--all of this on top of his constant lying about his resume and his family history.

There are charges of fraud, identity theft, credit card skimming, and swindling a disabled veteran.

In short, the evidence of criminal and ethical violations is extensive and overwhelming.

Mr. Santos has complained that he has not received due process. He also suggested that he was unaware of the fraud and misconduct, apparently trying to shift the blame to his treasurer and others.

Mr. Santos worked closely with his treasurer, who pled guilty just last month to her role in this scheme. The text messages they exchanged about the fake loans show that he was a knowing and active participant in the misconduct.

The campaign staffers we interviewed as part of our investigation also made clear that he was certainly aware of the campaign's financial abuses.

In addition, his campaign consultants gave him a 141-page vulnerability report that detailed many of his frauds and lies. They demanded that he drop out of the race. When he refused--just like he is doing today--three of his staffers quit in protest.

The Ethics Committee also offered Mr. Santos a chance to meet with us for an interview or deposition to explain his side. He has done countless interviews and gave a press conference just a few feet from here earlier this morning, but somehow he never found time to meet with us. Somehow he never even tried to offer a plausible explanation for his conduct. In fact, all he said today was that he would address our report at a later time.

He said something over the weekend that stuck with me. He said he would wear expulsion as a badge of honor. When all this is over, I am afraid he won't be wearing a badge of honor, he will be wearing an orange jumpsuit.

This is a historic moment. The House has only expelled five Members in our entire history.

The Constitution is clear that we don't have to wait until Mr. Santos is remanded to the Bureau of Prisons before we can vote to expel him from the House of Representatives.

The Constitution is also clear in the safeguards it provides to ensure that the power to expel a duly elected Member was not abused. The Framers--in their wisdom--set the high bar of a two-thirds vote.

Unlike some of the rushed motions to censure that we have seen here on this floor just in the past year, Mr. Santos received a full and extensive investigation, and a detailed report from the Ethics Committee. The evidence of criminal and ethical misconduct is extensive, overwhelming, and undisputed.

Finally, the Ethics Committee's investigation and report was bipartisan, and its findings were unanimous.

Given all of these safeguards and all of this evidence, now is the time to hold Mr. Santos accountable. Now is the time to show the American people that we can hold ourselves to at least a minimal standard of conduct. Now is the time to vote to expel George Santos from the United States House of Representatives.

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