George Santos, the ‘Walter Mitty’ of the US house, not to run again

Ethics probe finds George Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his candidacy for his personal financial profit.

George Santos calls the ethics report a ‘politicised smear’. Picture: AFP

A bombastic US congressman once described as having embellished “everything about himself except his name” faces another possible expulsion vote after a congressional ethics probe on Thursday found “overwhelming evidence” of misconduct.

George Santos, 35, a first-term Republican congressman from New York, denied the allegations while announcing he would not stand for re-election.

Mr Santos — who has falsely claimed to be Jewish and to have worked for Goldman Sachs among other fabrications — has been indicted for allegedly stealing from campaign donors, credit card fraud and identity theft.

A bipartisan report from the House Ethics Committee, which has been investigating Santos since February, found that he “blatantly stole from his campaign”.

“Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit,” the report said.

“He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit.

“Representative Santos’ conduct warrants public condemnation, is beneath the dignity of the office, and has brought severe discredit upon the House.”

While Santos’s fibs have been scandalous, they’ve also drawn a sense of reality TV-esque shock for US politics watchers. He has been compared to the literary fabulous Walter Mitty.

“I know I should be horrified by the revelations about George Santos... who seems to have embellished or invented everything about himself except his name. But truth be told, I can’t get enough of this guy,” read an opinion piece from the New York Times in January.

The committee said it was forwarding its findings to the Department of Justice and sending its full report to all members of the House to “take any action they deem appropriate and necessary.”

Fellow New York Republicans have been keen to distance themselves from the lawmaker, who has acknowledged lying to voters by making up large chunks of his life story, college credentials and work experience -- yet refusing to resign when called out.

The House of Representatives voted earlier this month to expel him from the body but the move fell short of the two-thirds majority needed for expulsion.

Republicans currently hold only a four-seat majority in the 435-seat House and losing a member would make passing legislation even more difficult for the party.

Santos has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges against him, and called Thursday’s ethics report a “politicised smear.” He said, however, he would not be running for re-election.

“I will however not be seeking reelection for a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time,” he said on X.

The last time the House expelled one of its members was in 2002, when Ohio Democrat James Traficant was ousted over 10 charges including bribery.

AFP