George Santos has done a lot of deeply fucked-up stuff in his 30-something years on earth—from lying about his grandparents fleeing Hitler and falsely claiming he employed four peopled who died in the Pulse nightclub shooting, to allegedly ripping off a homeless veteran and the guy’s dying dog—but he’s also been the source of a tremendous amount of unintentional hilarity. Just a few of the laughs: reportedly telling a roommate he was a male model who was going to appear in Vogue, claiming to have been a star player on the Baruch College volleyball team, and telling people he’d been a producer of the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Also: thinking he could actually win a second term in Congress!
Yes, CNN reports that Santos, a professional liar who may soon be on the receiving end of one or more criminal indictments—on top of the charges he was hit with in Brazil in 2011 and Pennsylvania in 2017—apparently believes he could not only ride out this current term but run for and win another one. (Santos has claimed he never committed a crime, despite previously admitting to fraud in Brazil. The Pennsylvania charges were dropped, though the lawyer who represented him now says she doesn’t believe the story he told her claiming his innocence.) “After previously signaling to Republicans he wouldn’t seek reelection, Santos has recently been telling people he is considering running for a second term,” Republican sources told CNN. The New York congressman has also “privately insist[ed] he will ultimately be cleared of all wrongdoing and that his treasurer will face scrutiny over his finances.” (Santos’s former treasurer, Nancy Marks, resigned last month. Among so many other things, there have been questions about the lawmaker’s campaign finances, including both the source of his donations and what he spent the money on.) “Let me be very clear, I’m not leaving, I’m not hiding and I am NOT backing down,” Santos tweeted Tuesday. “I will continue to work for #NY03 and no amount of Twitter trolling will stop me. I’m looking forward to getting what needs to be done, DONE!”
Last week, the Federal Election Commission ordered the GOP congressman to formally state if he plans to run in 2024, after he breached a postelection fundraising threshold that requires a formal declaration of his intent. In a letter, the commission wrote that Santos has until March 14 to “either disavow these (fundraising and spending) activities by notifying the Commission in writing that you are not a candidate, or redesignate your principal campaign committee by filing a Statement of Candidacy.”
Unsurprisingly, a number of people in Congress aren’t thrilled by the prospect of Santos not only completing his current term but running for another one. On Wednesday, Democrat Ritchie Torres, who represents New York’s 15th Congressional District, tweeted, “Santos is telling advisors that he wishes to serve a 2nd term, despite previously promising that he wouldn’t run for reelection. Do you think a pathological liar & lawbreaker like George Santos has any business being a lawmaker for even 1 term, let alone 2?”
Meanwhile, New York Republicans are not jazzed about the news either. Per CNN:
“The longer he stays in there, the worse this is for Republicans on Long Island,” former representative Peter King told CNN. “We have local elections (in New York) coming up. The last thing we want to be doing is running with George Santos over our head.”
Last week, two House Democrats introduced a resolution to expel Santos from Congress, and while, per CNN, multiple New York Republicans have said they would vote for the measure, it’s not clear it would garner the two-thirds majority necessary for the House to rid itself of the guy.
In extremely related news, on Thursday The Daily Beast reported that even though he lost his first bid for Congress in 2020 by more than 12 points, Santos raised thousands for a recount that never happened. “George Santos’ lies and corruption know no bounds. He set up a sham recount fund—for a recount that never happened. Then, he illegally used that money to offset costs for his 2022 campaign,” finance-reform group End Citizens United told The Daily Beast. “It’s yet another blatant violation of the law, which is why we’re asking the FEC to begin an investigation and also hand all relevant material to the DOJ for their investigation.”
