Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who has a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives, just refused to state unequivocally he will force U.S. Rep. George Santos out of Congress after federal prosecutors files charges against New York Republican.
Repeatedly faced with questions about Santos, whose record of lying appears surpassed only by allegations of corruption, McCarthy had said if Santos is charged he would expel him.
“What are the charges against him?” McCarthy said in January. “In America today, you’re innocent till proven guilty. So just because somebody doesn’t like the press you have, it’s not me that can oversay what the voters say the voters say.”
Two weeks later McCarthy revisited the issue.
“If for some way when we go through Ethics and he has broken the law, then we will remove him, but it’s not my role,” McCarthy said, as USA Today reported. “I believe in the rule of law. A person’s innocent until proven guilty.”
But CNN Tuesday evening exclusively reported that federal prosecutors had filed charges against Santos, and although those charges are currently under seal, “the FBI and the Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos’ campaign finance filings and other claims.”
Rep. Santos is expected to appear in federal court as soon as Wednesday.
When asked about one of his members facing federal charges, McCarthy remained steadfast.
“I’ll look at the charges,” he said on Tuesday. CNN reports McCarthy said “he will look at the charges before determining if he thinks Santos should be removed from Congress.”
Watch McCarthy below or at this link.
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