Democratic House leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) set up House Republicans to link themselves to George Santos by voting against expelling him.
Video of Jeffries:
Rep. Jeffries said on MSNBC’s The Reid Out:
You know, George Santos is a serial fraudster. He does not belong anywhere near the House of Representatives. He defrauded the people of the third congressional district in New York. Lied about everything. Lied about his life, lied about his jobs, lied about his finances, lied about his professional experiences. Lied about being Jewish. He perpetrated a fraud on the people of New York. He was elected under false pretenses.
So I commend Congressman Garcia for bringing this privileged resolution forward, and the real question is, are House Republicans going to stand on the side of truth or stand on the side of George Santos? It’s important to mention, Santos was referred to the ethics committee month ago. So what are we doing? You’re either going to hold him accountable under the constitution or you’re not. It’s going to be interesting to see how these so-called moderates in terms of New York House Republicans vote. They have all said that they want him out. And he doesn’t belong in the House of Representatives. Tomorrow, they will have an opportunity to vote their word.
It is very simple. George Santos is under federal felony indictment. He didn’t just lie to get elected. The freshman New York Republican congressman is accused of committing crimes related to his election and position.
If Republicans, especially the New York Republican delegation are sincere in their desire to have Santos gone, they can do something about it tomorrow, but if they vote no on the resolution to expel Rep. Santos, they will be linking themselves to him, and setting Democrats up to retake the House next year.
The stakes of the vote are more far-reaching than George Santos. The vote could be a big step in Democrats taking back the majority in the House of Representatives.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
This story originally appeared on Politicususa
