George Santos a ‘bad guy’ who did ‘bad things’ but should not be forced out, top Republican says

 

George Santos a ‘bad guy’ who did ‘bad things’ but should not be forced out, top Republican says

 

New York congressman’s résumé is largely fiction and campaign finance questions abide but support is vital for speaker McCarthy

 

Martin Pengelly in New York

@MartinPengelly

Sun 15 Jan 2023 15.32 GMT

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/15/george-santos-deserves-chance-republican-matt-gaetz

 

The New York Republican congressman George Santos, whose résumé has been shown to be largely fictional and whose campaign finances are the subject of increasing scrutiny, is a “bad guy” who has done “really bad” things but should not be forced to resign, the new House oversight committee chair said on Sunday.

 

James Comer of Kentucky appeared on CNN’s State of the Union. He was asked if Santos should quit.

 

He said: “He’s a bad guy. This is something that you know, it’s really bad … but look, George Santos was a duly elected by the people. He’s going to be … examined thoroughly. It’s his decision whether or not he should resign.”

 

Saying Santos was “not the first politician unfortunately to be in Congress to lie”, Comer aimed a barb at Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic senator from Massachusetts whose claim of Native American ancestry was widely questioned.

 

Santos won New York’s third district, which covers parts of Long Island and Queens, in November. Since then his biography has been shown to be largely made-up, his personal history widely questioned and his campaign finances scrutinised amid questions about the origins of his personal wealth.

 

This week, Democrats in Congress requested a campaign finance investigation while a nonpartisan watchdog, the Campaign Legal Center, filed its own request for a Federal Election Commission investigation on the same subject.

 

The CLC complaint said: “Particularly in light of Santos’s mountain of lies about his life and qualifications for office, the [FEC] should thoroughly investigate what appear to be equally brazen lies about how his campaign raised and spent money.”

 

Santos’s district party has disowned him and New York Republicans in Congress have called on him to resign. Santos has said he will not.

 

Kevin McCarthy, the House speaker who Santos supported through 15 rounds of voting earlier this month, and who must operate with a small majority, has not taken action, instead pointing to a House ethics office his party is attempting to gut.

 

Comer followed his leader.

 

“George Santos was a duly elected by the people,” Comer told CNN. “He’s going to be investigated thoroughly, not necessarily for lies but for potential campaign finance violations. So I think that Santos is being examined thoroughly. It’s his decision whether or not he should resign.”

 

Comer said he had not introduced himself to Santos, “because it’s pretty despicable the lies that he told”. But he repeated that only campaign finance violations should lead to removal.

 

Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican moderate, told ABC’s This Week: “You know, if that was me, I would resign. I wouldn’t be able to face my voters.”

 

But again, Bacon followed the party line: “This is between him and his constituents, largely. They’ve elected him and they have to deal with him on that. I don’t think his re-election chances would be that promising, depending on how he handles this.”

 

On Saturday, a prominent GOP rightwinger – and ringleader of the attempt to stop McCarthy becoming speaker – said Santos should have “the chance to at least make his case”.

 

Speaking to CNN, Matt Gaetz of Florida said: “George Santos represents over 700,000 people in New York. And whether people like that or not, those people deserve to have members of Congress collaborating with the person who serves them.

 

 

“George Santos will have to go through the congressional ethics process. I don’t want to prejudge that process, but I think he deserves the chance to at least make his case. There are requirements members of Congress have to meet when it comes to the money that they donate to their own campaigns.

 

“But until then, I don’t think that George Santos should be subject to shunning because the Americans he serves deserve representation, and they have real challenges, and we ought to work together to solve their challenges and meet their needs.”

 

Earlier this week, Gaetz spoke to Santos on the former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s podcast. Asked about his wealth, Santos nodded to Republican claims about Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, saying: “I’ll tell you where it didn’t come from – it didn’t come from China, Ukraine or Burisma.”

 

Santos is under investigation in Brazil, over the use of a stolen chequebook, and in New York, over claims about his college history, business career and family background that have been shown to be untrue. Santos has admitted “embellishing” his résumé but insisted he has done nothing wrong or unethical.

 

On Bannon’s podcast, Gaetz said: “Embellishing one’s résumé isn’t a crime. It’s frankly, how a lot of people get to Congress. And we want everyone to be honest.”

 

Writing for the Guardian, the columnist Moira Donegan pointed to Santos’s rise in a Republican party led by Donald Trump.

 

“It would be a mistake to think that George Santos’s pathologies are his alone,” she wrote. “His lies are the product of a political system that incentivises dishonesty, punishes sincerity and is rife with opportunities for petty crooks.

 

“In that sense, Santos is the politician that we deserve.”