As Colorado Public Radio’s Caitlyn Kim reports, the long sordid saga of serial fabulist who somehow managed to become GOP Rep. George Santos may finally be coming to an end after a damning Ethics Committee investigative report basically accused Santos of turning his entire campaign operation into a personal slush fund. Although Santos narrowly survived a vote to expel him from the House before the release of the committee’s report, the winds have shifted considerably since then–and another vote is likely when the House reconvenes after the holiday break:
Colorado Rep. Ken Buck wrote on X Thursday that he hopes Santos resigns. But if not, “I will join my colleagues in voting for his expulsion.”
Buck, who had voted against a previous measure to remove Santos in early November said then that Santos was entitled to due process after facing a 23 count indictment.
“The Ethics Committee, I think, gave him the opportunity. He did not avail himself of that opportunity,” Buck said. The committee found that he did not cooperate with the investigation and I think he’s been given the fair due process now.”
Colorado’s Democratic congressional majority are naturally united in favor of Santos’ expulsion, and although Rep. Doug Lamborn told CPR he is “reviewing information” we expect him to go with the prevalent flow which is currently not in Santos’ direction. And that leaves one legitimately open unanswered question: what about Santos’ back-bench buddy Rep. Lauren Boebert?
Rep. Lauren Boebert’s office said she is not commenting at the moment. In recent months, she and Santos could often be seen sitting together on the House floor, and on Tuesday, Santos was seen feeding Boebet’s grandson a bottle during a vote series.
Perhaps due to being shunned by most of his colleagues, Santos found a clique to hang with in the House with other members considered toxic for their own special reasons: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt “Giggity” Gaetz, and Gaetz’s inseparable ally Boebert. Long before Boebert started bringing her grandchild with her everywhere she goes like a bag of flour in a home economics assignment, Boebert and Santos teamed up to sponsor legislation declaring the AR-15 to be the nation’s “national gun.”
Boebert like Santos has also faced ethical scrutiny of her outsized campaign fund reimbursements, timed suspiciously with the repayment of tax liens owed by Boebert’s now-defunct restaurant. Before the evidence against Santos reached the current stage of undeniable, Boebert could have been excused for turning a blind eye or arguing that due process should take its course. The longer this goes on, the more Boebert looks like she’s running cover for her fabulist friend who also happens to (we hope) be good with babies.
The one thing we’ll say is being a fraud doesn’t necessarily make you a bad babysitter. And child care is expensive! So if there is an interlude between Santos’ time in office and reporting to prison, Santos might even manage to keep a job on Capitol Hill if he plays this right.
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When Santos gets expelled, he can return to his true calling, namely building hospitals for the poor on the dozens of Earth-like planets orbiting Proxima Centauri.
The magic number to expel is 290. Assuming all Democrats are available and are in favor of ousting Santos, that would be 213. Republicans have 221 seats (and another likely to go Republican on Nov.17). 77 of those 221 would be needed to reach the threshold to expel.
24 already voted in favor of expulsion in the earlier vote this month.
5 Republicans sat on the Ethics committee, and I believe all of them voted "prsent" in order to "stay impartial" until the report was delivered. I expect all 5 of them to join in.
That leaves 48 more to be found.
Rep. Buck is among the Republicans saying he's seen enough, and will add his vote to expel Santos. According to CNBC, he will be joined by Greg Murphy, R-N.C., 3 from Iowa – Zach Nunn, Ashley Hinson and Mariannette Miller-Meeks — and Stephanie Bice, R-Okla., Kelly Armstrong, R-N.D., and Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.
Wonder how other Republicans will balance the need for a majority with the reputation of the House. We'll see if there are the requisite 40 more who think they'd rather cut ties now rather than have it drag out closer to the 2024 election.