Cheers to the Kansas congressional delegation for voting last week to expel Rep. George Santos for converting campaign contributions for his own use.
That our three Republicans — Jake LaTurner, Ron Estes, and Tracey Mann — defied House leadership’s recommendation to retain Santos speaks volumes to the unsavory nature of his crimes, including self-indulgent expenditures for Botox treatments, designer clothing, pornography and falsely claiming unemployment benefits.
Not surprisingly, our fourth delegate, Democrat Sharice Davids, also voted to expel Santos, who now faces a 23-count federal indictment, including identity theft and credit card fraud, artificially bolstering his campaign’s financial standing with fake donations, and stealing from donors by repeatedly charging their credit cards without authorization.
And there’s more, according to the 56-page report by the House Ethics Committee.
Friday’s vote was 311 to 114, with 105 GOP members joining Democrats to oust their fellow Republican. The measure required a two-thirds majority.
Santos is one of only a handful of representatives to be ejected in Congress’s 234-year history.
THOUGH NOT a crime, that Santos was a pathological liar did not help his case.
Among the doozies were claims that his mother was working at the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks; that his grandparents escaped the Holocaust, and that he once worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
He also lied about attending an elite prep school and college, graduating top of his class.
In short, he’s not a scholar, is far from rich, is not Jewish and has no family members directly affected by the horrors of 9/11.
That Santos’ character wasn’t fully discovered before he was elected in 2022 is on party representatives — the supposed gatekeepers.
Before Friday’s vote, House Speaker Mike Johnson urged Republicans to retain Santos, cognizant that his dismissal further threatens the GOP’s narrow majority.
“We’re down to a three-vote margin,” he said. “It’s a difficult thing to govern under those circumstances.”
No doubt. But the cloud of public distrust should also weigh on members.
Santos’ expulsion proves a majority see good reason to say clearly: Criminals have no home in Congress.
