By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer called fellow Republican newbie Rep. George Santos a “bad guy”, but said he can’t really be ousted over alleged lies.
As reported by the NY Post, in an interview on Sunday Comer said Santos could potentially be removed from office if it is revealed that he violated campaign finance laws. “Look, he’s a bad guy, this is something that you know it’s really bad,” said Comer,50, who has served as congressman in Kentucky’s 1st district and previously State Representative from 2001to 2012. “At the end of the day, it’s not up to me or any member of Congress to determine whether he can be kicked out for lying. Now if he broke campaign finance laws then he will be removed,” said Comer during the interview on CNN’s “State of the Union”.
Santos, the 34-year-old Republican, won a seat in recent elections to serve New York’s 3rd congressional district, covering parts of Long Island and northeast Queens. As per the Post, shortly after his victory over Democratic opponent Robert Zimmerman, Santos came under heavy fire for allegedly telling some untruths and admittedly fabricating parts of his personal and professional resume, including his employment history, college education and Jewish heritage. Santos, who took office on Jan. 3rd, is being investigated by federal, state, and county authorities, as of late December 2022. A small group of Republicans in the House have called on Santos to resign. Santos has thus far refused to step down.
Santos’ campaign financial disclosure filings are also being probed, in the hopes of catching him red handed in something concrete that he can be ousted for. “George Santos was duly elected by the people, he’s gonna be under strict ethics investigation – not for necessarily for lying but for his campaign finance potential violations so I think that Santos is being examined thoroughly. It’s his decision whether he should resign,it’ s not my decision,” Comer said on CNN. “But certainly I don’t approve of how he made his way to Congress and I haven’t even introduced myself to him because it’s pretty despicable the lies that he told.”
Last week, Democratic NY Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman filed an ethics complaint against Santos. They called for an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee. The duo’s letter alleges that Santos failed “to file timely, accurate, and complete financial disclosure reports as required by law.” “At a minimum, it is apparent that he did not file timely disclosure reports for his most recent campaign. Moreover, his own public statements have contradicted some information included in the 2022 financial disclosure and confirmed that the 2022 financial disclosure failed to disclose other required information,” Goldman and Torres wrote.
“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos admitted to the Post in December. “I am not a criminal,” Santos had added in the interview. “This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”
