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‘This Is a Dodge’: McCarthy Accused of ‘Lying’ as He Works to Derail Democrats’ Resolution to Expel George Santos

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Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy is attempting to derail a resolution to expel U.S. Rep. George Santos, filed by several House Democrats after the freshman New York GOP congressman was indicted on 13 federal felony charges.

Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California is the lead sponsor of the resolution, and was joined by Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL) and Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT). The expulsion resolution was filed as a privileged motion, meaning it effectively can attempt to force McCarthy to put it up for a full House vote within 48 hours.

“George Santos is a fraud and a liar, and he needs to be expelled by the House,” Rep. Garcia said in a statement Tuesday.

RELATED: Kevin McCarthy’s Long History of Protecting George Santos: Now He Won’t Move to Expel Until ‘Outcome’ of Trial (Video)

But McCarthy holds the majority by the slimmest of margins, and can barely afford to lose a single GOP vote on any given day, certainly not one permanently – or until a special election would replace Santos if he indeed were expelled. The special election process to fill a congressional seat in New York could take up to 90 days.

Tuesday afternoon McCarthy made his move, suggesting he was concerned about the federal felony charges Rep. Santos is facing, while insisting there be due process – a deviation from his remarks earlier this year suggesting Santos should keep his seat unless he were criminally charged.

“I think we can look at this very quickly and come to a conclusion on what George Santos did and did not do through ethics, a safe bipartisan committee,” McCarthy said, as CNN reported. “I would like the Ethics Committee to move rapidly on this.”

The House Ethics Committee does not move “rapidly.”

READ MORE: Dem Congresswoman Destroys GOP Over House Republican ‘Indicted on 13 Counts’ and Staffer With Ties to White Nationalist

Aaron Fritschner, the Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), blasted Speaker McCarthy.

“This is a dodge,” Fritschner charged on Twitter. “Ethics won’t do this and Kevin McCarthy 100% knows that. He’s just trying to give his people a dishonest excuse for a bad, dishonest vote. They are lying to you and to their constituents, and nobody will know that unless you guys tell them.”

“This much-repeated statement from McCarthy is pure BS,” Fritschner also said, referring to the Speaker’s claim he wanted the Ethics Committee to move rapidly. “House Ethics does not accelerate investigations at a party leader’s request. Bear that in mind as Republicans who previously said Santos had to go point at this to try to weasel out of voting to remove him— it is not a thing.”

Fritschner also says if anything, the House Ethics Committee will slow-walk the investigation, or put it on hold. As proof he points to six Ethics Committee investigations where a member of Congress was facing federal charges, and the Dept. of Justice asked the Committee to pause their investigations.

“Kevin McCarthy KNOWS that” the Ethics Committee will…ask House Ethics to pause and they will,” Fritschner adds. “He 100% knew that when he spun everyone up yesterday about a ‘rapid’ House Ethics investigation. He is lying to you guys, again.”

As for the House Ethics Committee’s slow pace, the last investigation it took up was a referral against Congressman Santos, which the Committee announced on March 2.

That is also that last formal announcement the Committee has made, and it does not appear to have concluded that investigation.

Congressman Garcia’s resolution is expected to be put before the full House for a vote Wednesday. It would require a two-thirds vote to pass. It is all but certain to fail, give Republicans hold the majority.

Republicans, after McCarthy’s remarks, are expected to vote to send the resolution to the House Ethics Committee.

“House Dem Whip Katherine Clark’s office confirms Republicans are expected to hold a vote today on referring the Santos expulsion resolution to Ethics Committee,” reported Axios’ Andrew Solender Wednesday morning.

 

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Watch Live: President Biden to Deliver Rare Address to the Nation on Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Agreement

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President Joe Biden will make a rare address to the nation Friday evening, to share with the American people the results of successful negotiations with Republicans to avert what could have been not only a national but global economic disaster had the debt ceiling crisis not been averted.

Biden is being credited for smart and savvy negotiations while keeping out of the public eye and allowing Republicans to control the narrative, while steering the agreement to one best for the American people.

Even Speaker Kevin McCarthy “conceded that he had been impressed with Biden’s negotiating team during the talks, calling them ‘very professional, very smart’ and ‘very tough at the same time,'” HuffPost reported Wednesday.

Many extremist House Republicans were hoping for a default, and over the past several weeks they made clear they did not understand what the consequences would have been.

RELATED: ‘Objectively Amazing’: Economists Cheer ‘Extraordinarily Robust’ and ‘Close to Unprecedented’ Jobs Report

Watch President Biden below at 7 PM ET, or at this link.

RELATED: ‘Republicans Got Outsmarted by a President Who Can’t Find His Pants’: GOP Congresswoman Throws Debt Ceiling Tantrum

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FBI Agrees to Brief Top House Oversight Leaders on Unsubstantiated Allegation Against Biden

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Under threat of a contempt of Congress referral against FBI Director Chris Wray, the Bureau has agreed to allow a briefing for the top Republican and top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee on a years-old unsubstantiated allegation, which has been called a second-hand tip, accusing then-Vice President Joe Biden of a supposed wrongful act.

The existence of the lone, unclassified document, called an FD-1023 form, until recently was not even verified by the FBI.

Chairman Jim Comer (R-KY) and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) “will receive a briefing from the FBI and review the FD-1023 form behind closed doors in a secure SCIF, a sensitive compartmented information facility at the Capitol rather than going to FBI headquarters, as the bureau had initially offered,” CNN on Friday reported.

READ MORE: Classified Pentagon ‘War Plans’ Document Trump Bragged About in Audio Recording Is Missing: Report

“While the document contains the allegations made by an unnamed whistleblower, it doesn’t provide proof that they are true, people briefed on the matter said. The FBI and prosecutors who previously reviewed the information couldn’t corroborate the claims.”

Chairman Comer, who has been accused of using his position on the powerful Oversight Committee aid Donald Trump’s efforts to regain the presidency, late last month appeared to validate that accusation.

The unverified FD-1023 form “has origins in a tranche of documents that Rudy Giuliani provided to the Justice Department in 2020, people briefed on the matter said,” CNN notes.

“According to Comer,” CNN adds, the FD-1023 form, “dated June 30, 2020, says [a] foreign national allegedly paid $5 million to receive a desired policy outcome, based on unclassified and legally protected whistleblower disclosures.”

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who has teamed up with Chairman Comer, came under fire for admitting he does not care whether or not the accusations against President Biden are true or not, he wants to pursue them regardless.

READ MORE: Classified Pentagon ‘War Plans’ Document Trump Bragged About in Audio Recording Is Missing: Report

CNN earlier this week reported that even then-Attorney General Bill Barr questioned the validity of the alleged document.

“The allegations of wrongdoing by the then-vice president, many originating from sources in Ukraine, were dubious enough that Attorney General William Barr in early 2020 directed that they be reviewed by a US attorney in Pittsburgh, in part because Barr was concerned that Giuliani’s document tranche could taint the ongoing Hunter Biden investigation overseen by the Delaware US attorney.”

Ranking Member Raskin, a former constitutional law professor, in a statement this week characterized the FD-1023 as containing “unsubstantiated, second-hand claims,” and called it a “tip.”

Raskin has also accused Comer of being determined to send a contempt of Congress referral for Director Wray to the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

“It is increasingly clear that Committee Republicans have always planned to hold Director Wray in contempt of Congress to distract from the obvious fact that they do not have evidence to support their unfounded accusations against President Biden. This latest political maneuver underscores Chairman Comer’s determination to use the Committee to help former President Trump’s reelection efforts and pander to extreme MAGA Republicans.”

Last month, The New Republic reported, the “House GOP accused Joe Biden and his family … of engaging in business with foreign entities—but were unable to provide any actual evidence linking the president to any wrongdoing.”

“House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer released a 65-page memo detailing a sprawling investigation into Biden and some of his relatives, particularly his son Hunter Biden. Nowhere in the massive document was there a specific allegation of a crime committed by Biden or any of his relatives.”

 

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Decision to Not Charge Pence in Classified Docs Probe Is ‘Prelude to DOJ Seeking Charges Against Trump’: Legal Expert

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Mike Pence will not be charged for being in possession of classified documents, found in his Indiana home, the U.S. Dept. of Justice reportedly has told the former Trump vice president in a letter. Some legal experts believe DOJ is wrapping up its investigations into classified documents found in Pence’s and President Joe Biden’s homes to clear the decks for a decision to seek charges against ex-president Donald Trump over his unlawful removal of hundreds of classified documents from the White House, and subsequent refusal to return them even after being served with a subpoena.

“The decision comes ahead of Pence’s planned announcement next week that he will run for president in 2024,” CNN reports, noting it has obtained and verified a copy of the DOJ letter. “It allows Pence to offer an additional contrast between himself and former President Donald Trump, his political rival who’s under serious investigation by the Justice Department and others.”

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, an MSNBC/NBC News contributor and professor of law, responded to the news Pence will not be charged.

“This is what happens when you voluntarily return items to the govt, don’t claim they’re yours, hide them & lie about,” she said, clearly referring to Donald Trump’s actions. “Also: showing them off to others.”

RELATED: Former DOJ Official Says Audio of Trump Admitting to Keeping ‘War Plans’ Makes it ‘Inconceivable’ He Will Not Be Charged

“Confident this is a prelude to DOJ seeking charges against Trump for those reasons,” she added.

NYU Law professor of Law Ryan Goodman, a former U.S. Dept. of Defense Special Counsel, apparently agrees.

“Discover classified documents at your home after leaving the White House, immediately acknowledge and turn the documents over to the FBI/Archives, and look what happens,” he writes.

Earlier this week, responding to news Special Counsel Jack Smith has an audio recording of Donald Trump admitting he kept a classified Pentagon document apparently detailing a possible attack against Iran, Goodman reiterated his belief that the ex-president will face not only obstruction charges but charges under the Espionage Act.

“War plans are among the most highly classified documents. Puts pressure on DOJ to indict, and a jury to convict,” wrote Goodman. “Make no mistake. This is squarely an Espionage Act case.”

“It is not simply an ‘obstruction’ case,” he added. “There is now every reason to expect former President Trump will be charged under 18 USC 793(e) of the Espionage Act. The law fits his reported conduct like a hand in glove.”

Watch CBS News’ report on DOJ’s decision to not charge Pence below or at this link:

 

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