- The House Ethics Committee just released a report on its investigation into George Santos.
- It may trigger yet another effort to expel the indicted congressman.
- Here's what's in the report that the committee just released.
The House Ethics Committee finally released a report on its months-long investigation into Republican Rep. George Santos of New York on Thursday morning.
There's a lot in there.
"Representative Santos' conduct warrants public condemnation, is beneath the dignity of the office, and has brought severe discredit upon the House," the committee declared in a statement accompanying the report.
A short, 8-page report summarizing the committee's findings declares that the scandal-plagued congressman had:
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Knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission.
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Used campaign funds for personal purposes.
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Knowingly violated the Ethics in Government Act via his financial disclosure statements.
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Engaged in other fraudulent conduct.
The committee also released a much lengthier report compiled by an investigative subcommittee (ISC), along with hundreds of pages of additional evidence.
The committee also said that Santos largely refused to engage with the committee, including declining to file a written statement responding to allegations about his conduct, declining to provide documents, and declining to testify under oath.
"While Representative Santos has claimed, both through counsel before the ISC and to the media, he would fully cooperate with the ISC's review, that was another lie," reads the ISC's report.
The ISC also said it declined to subpoena Santos in part because his testimony "would have low evidentiary value given his admitted practice of embellishment."
The investigation has long hung over discussions about the indicted congressman's future in the body, with senior Republicans arguing that it would not be appropriate to expel Santos or to push for his resignation without giving the committee enough time to release its findings.
The House has already held two votes on expelling Santos, including a Democratic-led effort in May and a Republican-led effort earlier this month. Both efforts failed in part due to concerns about due process from members of both parties.
The release of the report could trigger a third effort to expel Santos, who infamously lied about the vast majority of his background before being elected to Congress in 2022.
While cautioning that he didn't want to pre-judge the report, Rep. Anthony D'Esposito — one of the freshman New York Republicans who's pushed for expulsion — told Business Insider on Tuesday that he remains interested in kicking his colleague out of congress, despite the arguments about due process from his colleagues.
"If there's an opportunity to set a precedent that we don't stand for lying fraudsters in the House of Representatives, I think that's a pretty good precedent," said D'Esposito.
Separately, Santos has been indicted on 23 federal charges including wire fraud, identity theft, money laundering, and other offenses. He is not set to face trial until the fall of 2024, after the Republican primary is set to take place and just weeks before the general election.
Here's the 8-page report that the House Ethics Committee released:
And here's the lengthier 56-page report from the investigative subcommittee: