NEW YORK — The House Ethics Committee announced Thursday it will launch an investigation into embattled Republican Rep. George Santos, the New York congressman whose lies and embellishments about his resume and personal life have been the subject of deep scrutiny. scrutiny.
The research appears to be far-reaching. It is seeking to determine whether Santos “may have engaged in illegal activities in connection with his 2022 campaign for Congress,” among other actions, the committee said in a statement.
The panel will also investigate whether Santos “failed to adequately disclose required information in statements filed with the House, violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role at a company that provides trust services, and/or engaged in sexual conduct.” inappropriate toward a person seeking employment in your congressional office,” the statement said.
Santos had already withdrawn from his committee assignments, but has otherwise rejected calls from Republicans in New York for him to step down. On Twitter, his office said he is “fully cooperating” with the Ethics investigation and would not comment further.
Ethics committee members David Joyce, R-Ohio, and Susan Wild, D-Pa., will lead the investigation, along with two other lawmakers from each party. The panel had voted unanimously to establish a subcommittee to investigate the allegations.
“The Committee notes that the mere fact of establishing an Investigative Subcommittee does not in itself indicate that any violation has occurred,” the Thursday statement said.
The committee could take a variety of actions, from a letter of reprimand to recommending a ban and a fine.
It can also recommend expulsion, the harshest form of punishment the House can impose, an action it has used only five times in more than two centuries and never for conduct that occurred before a member took office. . At least two-thirds of the House must vote for the expulsion for it to happen.
Any recommendation would be part of a committee report setting out the evidence supporting its findings and an explanation of the reasons for the recommended sanctions.
A Long Island prosecutor has already been investigating whether Santos defrauded his supporters. The Federal Election Commission has repeatedly pointed to problems with Santos’ campaign finance reports.
Santos admitted that he lied about key parts of his background, including his work experience and college education, after The New York Times raised questions in December about the life story he presented during his campaign.
“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos told the New York Post in the wake of the Times story.
Santos said he earned a degree from Baruch College in New York, but the school said that could not be confirmed. Santos had also said that he had worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but neither company could find any records to verify this.
A Jewish news outlet, The Forward, disputed a claim on Santos’ campaign website that his grandparents “fled Jewish persecution in the Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during World War II.” .
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos told the Post. “I am Catholic. Since I found out that my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said that I was ‘Jewish.'”
Perhaps the most serious questions facing Santos involve the personal fortune he claims to have used to finance his campaign.
Since announcing his candidacy in 2021, Santos reported having loaned his campaign organization $705,000, representing nearly 25% of his income over the past two years.
The underlying question remains how Santos earned the money. Despite his false claims to have worked for large international banks, until a few years ago he struggled financially that led to multiple apartment eviction proceedings in New York City.
When Santos first ran for Congress in 2020, his financial disclosure form listed a modest salary of $55,000 from a finance company and no significant assets.
After losing that race, he took a job selling investments in a company that the Securities and Exchange Commission later accused of being a Ponzi scheme.
Last summer, Santos filed a financial disclosure report that suggested an explosion in his personal wealth.
Santos reported that he earned $750,000 per year with his own company, the Devolder Organization, had savings of $1 million to $5 million, and owned an apartment in Brazil worth up to $1 million. Santos has yet to fully answer the questions about how he got so rich so quickly. In an interview with Semafor, Santos said he worked as a consultant for “high net worth individuals,” helping to negotiate the sale of luxury items such as yachts and planes.
