Former Representative George Santos (R-N.Y.) took to social media in the late hours, vowing to initiate ethics complaints against certain House colleagues following his expulsion from office on Friday.
Santos directed his allegations towards Representatives Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), and Rob Menendez (D-N.J.), accusing them of campaign finance violations and other ethical lapses. The ex-lawmaker declared his intention to file official complaints on the upcoming Monday.
New York Republicans spearheaded the effort to remove Santos, who himself faced accusations of campaign finance violations, deceitful interactions with donors, and fraudulent activities. Santos, currently facing 23 criminal charges, including wire fraud, identity theft, and misappropriation of public funds, is yet to stand trial.
Santos specified that his complaint against Malliotakis would focus on her stock trading activities since joining the Ways and Means committee in this Congress term. In a late-night post on the X platform (formerly Twitter), he questioned Malliotakis’s sudden prowess in stock trading and drew parallels to alleged insider trading, particularly mentioning Paul Pelosi’s controversial stock trades.
The claims against Lawler revolved around allegations of channeling campaign expenses through a company in which he holds a stake. Santos raised concerns about potential money laundering and left it to the Office of Congressional Ethics to assess the situation.
Regarding LaLota, Santos asserted that the Long Island congressman was a “no-show” at his local board of elections job while attending law school. He urged the Ethics Committee to investigate if LaLota had potentially misappropriated public funds.
LaLota’s spokesman responded by stating that Santos was upset about Congressman LaLota’s three legitimate degrees, contrasting them with Santos’s alleged falsehood about his educational background.
Santos also called for an Ethics Committee inquiry into Menendez’s connection with his father, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), currently facing federal charges in a bribery scheme involving political favors in Egypt. While not directly accusing the younger Menendez of misconduct, Santos urged an investigation into what he knew about his father’s dealings.
Menendez’s spokesman dismissed Santos’s complaint, stating that Santos was neither a colleague nor a constituent and thus would not dignify the accusations with a response.
These accusations followed a confrontation on the congressional floor where Santos labeled Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) a “woman-beater” in response to Miller’s branding of Santos as a “crook.” Miller faces accusations of domestic violence by former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, with whom he was previously in a relationship.
Santos’s expulsion from office resulted from an Ethics Committee investigation, with a damning report detailing extensive misconduct allegations. Santos had warned against his expulsion, arguing it would set an unfavorable precedent for addressing misconduct allegations against other members of Congress.