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      HBO to develop George Santos’s ‘Gatsby-esque journey’ into movie – report

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      A book about the improbable rise and rapid fall of former congressman George Santos has been optioned by HBO Films, it was reported Saturday, and will be produced under the guidance of Frank Rich, a former New York Times columnist known for executive production credits on Emmy awards-winning Succession and Veep.HBO reportedly optioned the rights to Mark Chiusano’s The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos, published last week.Chiusano, a former Newsday reporter, told the Guardian last week that the story of Santos, who was expelled from Congress last week after a damning ethics report that focused on his use of campaign funds and also faces criminal charges, was at its heart “a tragedy”.“He is someone who is clearly very ambitious and wants to live a kind of wealthy life, a life of fame and notoriety, and he is trying to attain essentially a version of the American dream, which so many people have sought over the years,” Chiusano said.A movie interpretation of Santos’s political career may have literary precedents to follow. Part of the New York district three that Santos served includes Great Neck, transposed as Little Egg in the story of Jay Gatsby, the (fictional) character who created his own fictional life in F Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby.According to Deadline, the adaptation of The Fabulist will be written by Mike Makowsky, who wrote the screenplay of HBO’s crime drama Bad Education, and will tell the “Gatsby-esque journey of a man from nowhere who exploited the system, waged war on truth and swindled one of the wealthiest districts in the country to achieve his American Dream”.The disgraced ex-congressman fired off a series of tweets late Friday night announcing he would file complaints about misdeeds involving former colleagues Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota and Bob Menendez.By Sunday, Santos’s controversial expulsion ahead of a criminal trial continued to attract political comment. Former Trump White House chief of staff and ABC political analyst Reince Priebus acknowledged splits within the Republican party on the vote to expel and the issue of the legislative body acting independently of voters in Santos’s district.“True, he lied. He has a big mouth, all of these things. You know, I do think there is a concern with taking that power away from the people in the district,” Priebus said.Santos, he added, was “a victim of himself. But he is also paying the price for having a big mouth, for being almost a comedian in front of his colleagues, who are now his judges. And he paid the price. And that’s a good lesson about, when you get in trouble, you keep your head down; you keep your mouth shut.”But the immediate aftermath of a year of Santos headlines has left an emotional vacuum – and the prospect of a hotly contested election in the New Year in which Democrats will hope to recover a seat they lost in 2022. New York Magazine, which exhaustively chronicled the Santos’s political epic, echoed the line from Dr Seuss: “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.” More

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      ‘To hell with this place’: George Santos sharpens attacks after expulsion

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      George Santos, the disgraced New York Republican who was expelled from the US House on Friday, spent his first hours as a former congressman railing against his former colleagues and saying he would file ethics complaints against four of them on Monday.Santos told reporters after his expulsion he was done with Congress.“Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place,” he told reporters outside the US Capitol after the vote.By Friday evening, he was tweeting about his colleagues. He wrote on X that he would file an ethics complaint against three fellow Republicans from New York – Mike Lawler, Nicole Malliotakis and Nick LaLota – who had long pushed to oust him from Congress. He offered no proof of wrongdoing against any of the three.He also wrote that he would file a complaint against Representative Rob Menendez, whose father, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, has been criminally charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent on behalf of Egypt. Santos, again, didn’t offer specific accusations of wrongdoing.Any person can file a complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics, but that does not mean it will result in an investigation.He also urged a Republican in Congress to have the “testicular fortitude” to move to expel Jamaal Bowman, a New York Democrat, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and paid a fine for setting off a fire alarm in a congressional office building.Santos spent the week leading up to his impeachment vote railing against colleagues, accusing them of having affairs and missing votes because they were hungover.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionSantos became just the sixth person to ever be expelled from Congress after a bipartisan 311-114 vote on Friday. His expulsion came shortly after a report from the House ethics committee detailed how he spent campaign funds on luxury goods, cosmetics and an OnlyFans subscription. He also has pleaded not guilty to a 23-count federal indictment related to his use of campaign funds.After being elected to Congress to represent Long Island and Queens last year, Santos quickly earned a reputation as a prolific liar. Among other things, he lied about working on Wall Street, that his mother died during 9/11, and that he was a volleyball star in college. More

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      George Santos expelled: New York governor to call special election to fill seat – as it happened

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      With George Santos expelled from the House, New York governor Kathy Hochul will have to call a special election within the next 10 days, according to New York law.In a post shortly after his expulsion, Hochul said that she is prepared to “undertake the solemn responsibility of filling the vacancy in New York’s 3rd district.”She went on to add, “The people of Long Island deserve nothing less.”The special election is required to take place between 70 and 80 days later, which means an election day would occur some time next February or March.According to New York’s election law, local party leaders will be required to choose their candidates for the special election. The winner of the election will go on to complete the remainder of Santos’s term.Last month, Santos said that will not be running for re-election. In a fiery press conference on Thursday, he told reporters, “The future is endless… I’m going to do whatever I want. Whatever comes my way, I have the desire to stay very much involved in public policy and advocacy for specific issues.”Following Santos’s expulsion, House Democratic super PAC announced plans to “play a significant role in the NY-03 special election,” CNN’s Manu Raju reports.Its president Mike Smith said that the group “will do whatever it takes to flip this district blue.”Meanwhile, Anna Kaplan, a former Democratic New York state senator, has announced that she is “battle tried and tested” to take on the vacant seat.In a post on X, Kaplan wrote:
      “George Santos has officially been expelled. A special election is now right around the corner. It’s time to restore integrity to New York’s 3rd Congressional District. I am battle tried and tested. I am ready. If chosen as our party’s nominee, I will flip this seat blue. We will win.”
      It is 4pm in Washington DC. Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
      New York’s Republican representative George Santos was expelled from the House in a 311-114 vote. The vote to expel Santos, the second since his election last year, required a two-thirds majority of those present. Santos therefore becomes only the sixth member ever expelled from the US House. The first three fought for the Confederacy in the civil war. The other two were expelled after being convicted of crimes.
      Two Democrats voted against expelling George Santos. Georgia’s representative Nikema Williams and Robert C. Scott voted nays, while Democratic representatives Jonathan Jackson of Illinois and Al Green of Texas voted present.
      Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a New Yorker, has released the following statement on George Santos’s expulsion: “Long Island and Queens deserve better.”
      California’s Democratic representative Adam Schiff, who voted yes on George Santos’s expulsion, released a statement in which he called the expulsion “justified.” “George Santos misappropriated hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign money, stole donor identities to fund his extravagant lifestyle, and has been indicted for fraud and financial crimes. I voted yes,” Schiff said.
      New York governor Kathy Hochul said that she is “prepared to undertake the solemn responsibility of filing the vacancy in New York’s 3rd district.” In a post on X following George Santos’s expulsion, Hochul added:“The people of Long Island deserve nothing less.”
      Hochul also said that she will announce the date for a special election in New York’s third district within the next days.” In a tweet on Thursday, Hochul added: “I take this responsibility seriously, and am committed to ensuring there will be a Member of Congress who can serve Nassau and Queens Counties.”
      The special election is required to take place between 70 and 80 days later, which means an election day would occur some time next February or March. According to New York’s election law, local party leaders will be required to choose their candidates for the special election. The winner of the election will go on to complete the remainder of Santos’s term.
      Following Santos’s expulsion, House Democratic super PAC announced plans to “play a significant role in the NY-03 special election,” CNN’s Manu Raju reports. Its president Mike Smith said that the group “will do whatever it takes to flip this district blue.”
      Anna Kaplan, a former Democratic New York state senator, has announced that she is “battle tried and tested” to take on the vacant seat. In a post on X, Kaplan wrote: “George Santos has officially been expelled. A special election is now right around the corner. It’s time to restore integrity to New York’s 3rd Congressional district. I am battle tried and tested. I am ready. If chosen as our party’s nominee, I will flip this seat blue. We will win.”
      Flowers have been laid – and picked up – from the office of George Santos following his expulsion from the House, according to photos surfacing on social media.Meanwhile, other pictures posted online showed people taking selfies outside of Santos’s office.New York’s Democratic representative Ritchie Torres said on Friday that George Santos’s “legacy lives on through a bill I named after him: the SANTOS Act.”Torres went on to say that the bill “holds Congressional candidates accountable for lying to the public.”“STOP ANOTHER NON-TRUTHFUL OFFICE SEEKER,” he added.Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a New Yorker, has released the following statement on George Santos’s expulsion:
      “Long Island and Queens deserve better.”
      The locks have been changed on expelled George Santos’s office on Capitol Hill following Friday’s House vote that pushed him out of his seat.New York’s governor Kathy Hochul said that she will announce the date for a special election in New York’s third district within the next days.”In a tweet on Thursday, Hochul added:
      “I take this responsibility seriously, and am committed to ensuring there will be a Member of Congress who can serve Nassau and Queens Counties.”
      With a special election due to be called within days – and election day looming early in 2024, let’s take a look at some of the likely candidates:DemocratsTom SuozziSuozzi represented New York’s third district before Santos did – and he wants his job back. The Democratic former Congressman announced in October that he wants to make a comeback. In his statement at the time, he said he wanted to bring “sanity and reason” back to Washington.Anna KaplanThe former Democratic New York state senator has announced that she is “battle tried and tested” to take on the vacant seat.Kaplan did not waste time throwing her hat in the ring. In a post on X, she wrote on Friday:
      George Santos has officially been expelled. A special election is now right around the corner. It’s time to restore integrity to New York’s 3rd Congressional District. I am battle tried and tested. I am ready. If chosen as our party’s nominee, I will flip this seat blue. We will win.”
      RepublicansAccording to the New York Times, former NYPD detective Mike Sapraicone is a top candidate.Jack MartinsThe newly elected state senator is also a potential Republican candidate, Newsweek reported. It could help that he has called Santos a fraud and called for his resignation.Mazi PilipPhilp has not said she is running but is under consideration, according to the NYT. She moved from Ethiopia to Israel as a refugee, has served in the Israeli Defense Forces. She is currently a Nassau county legislator.Santos’s expulsion from the House is the latest chapter in what has been a spectacular fall from grace for the New York congressman.The first-term lawmaker was initially celebrated as an up-and-coming star after he flipped his district from Democrats in 2022 and helped Republicans win control of the House.But he has become notorious for a series of claims that have turned out to be untrue. Here is a look back at some of those claims:The House Democratic super PAC has announced plans to “play a significant role in the NY-O3 special election,” CNN’s Manu Raju reports.House majority PAC president Mike Smith said that the group “will do whatever it takes to flip this district blue”.Santos’s victory in 2022 had flipped the district for the Republicans – now Democrats look eager to make that a blip.With George Santos expelled from the House, New York governor Kathy Hochul will have to call a special election within the next 10 days, according to New York law.In a post shortly after his expulsion, Hochul said that she is prepared to “undertake the solemn responsibility of filling the vacancy in New York’s 3rd district.”She went on to add, “The people of Long Island deserve nothing less.”The special election is required to take place between 70 and 80 days later, which means an election day would occur some time next February or March.According to New York’s election law, local party leaders will be required to choose their candidates for the special election. The winner of the election will go on to complete the remainder of Santos’s term.Last month, Santos said that will not be running for re-election. In a fiery press conference on Thursday, he told reporters, “The future is endless… I’m going to do whatever I want. Whatever comes my way, I have the desire to stay very much involved in public policy and advocacy for specific issues.”Following Santos’s expulsion, House Democratic super PAC announced plans to “play a significant role in the NY-03 special election,” CNN’s Manu Raju reports.Its president Mike Smith said that the group “will do whatever it takes to flip this district blue.”Meanwhile, Anna Kaplan, a former Democratic New York state senator, has announced that she is “battle tried and tested” to take on the vacant seat.In a post on X, Kaplan wrote:
      “George Santos has officially been expelled. A special election is now right around the corner. It’s time to restore integrity to New York’s 3rd Congressional District. I am battle tried and tested. I am ready. If chosen as our party’s nominee, I will flip this seat blue. We will win.”
      Two Democrats voted against expelling George Santos.Georgia’s representative Nikema Williams and Robert C. Scott voted nays, while Democratic representatives Jonathan Jackson of Illinois and Al Green of Texas voted present. More

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      Who will replace George Santos in New York swing district?

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      The expulsion of George Santos from Congress on Friday has ramifications beyond the New York Republican’s career prospects.The historic vote has sparked a scramble among Democrats and Republicans to elect a replacement for Santos, who was found by an ethics committee to have used campaign funds for purchases. A special election is likely to take place early next year.Given Santos’s troubles – the now former congressman also faces 23 federal charges including fraud and conspiracy – several candidates had already announced they would run for his seat in New York’s third congressional district.With New York legally required to hold a special election in less than 90 days, the race for Santos’s Long Island district, which voted for Joe Biden in 2020 and was represented by Democrats for 10 years before swinging Republican last year, has dramatically accelerated.There will be no primary in the special election. Instead local Democratic and Republican party leaders will choose the parties’ nominees to replace Santos in a finely balanced House of Representatives – Santos’s expulsion reduced Republicans’ advantage over Democrats in the House of Representatives eight seats: 221-213. Democrats are expected to announce their nominee on Tuesday, with Republicans also likely to reveal their candidate soon.The DemocratsTom Suozzi appears to be the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. He was elected to the third congressional district in 2017, but declined to run in 2022, instead announcing a run for governor of New York state. Born and raised in the area, Suozzi announced a bid to reclaim his seat in October.“You know me. I’ve never sat on the sidelines,” Suozzi said in his announcement. A centrist Democrat, he added that “more common sense and compassion” was required in politics, and “less chaos and senseless fighting”.Multiple reports have said Suozzi will be chosen to run, despite a sometimes bitter gubernatorial campaign. Suozzi, 61, repeatedly clashed with Kathy Hochul, the ultimate victor, which did not endear him to Democratic leaders, but his relatively high profile as a former congressman could help.Anna Kaplan, like Suozzi, had announced she was running to replace Santos before he was kicked out of Congress on Friday. Kaplan ran for the third congressional district in 2016 – an election Suozzi ultimately won – before being elected to the New York state senate in 2019.She lost a re-election bid in 2022 amid a Republican wave in Long Island that swept Santos into the House, and in May this year Kaplan said she would run against Santos.“For me, this congressional district is very, very personal. I left a country where I saw the rightwing extremists taking over and stripped women of their rights,” Kaplan, who was born in Iran and moved to the US as a 13-year-old, told City & State New York earlier this year.Robert Zimmerman, the Democratic nominee in 2022 who lost to Santos by seven points, hasn’t announced a run for the third congressional seat, but Axios reported he “could be tapped by party leaders”.Austin Cheng, an army veteran and healthcare CEO, would be a fresher face. The City reported that as of 30 September Cheng had raised the most cash of any of the Democratic candidates – but that might be irrelevant now that party leaders will choose the candidate.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionThe RepublicansMazi Pilip is among a reported “10 to 15” candidates being considered by the local Republican party. A local politician in Nassau county, which makes up much of the third congressional district, she has relatively little political experience and has not declared her candidacy.Pilip was born in Ethiopia and moved to Israel when she was 13, going on to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. A vocal supporter of Israel, in November she joined with other local legislators in calling for the pro-Palestinian group Students for Justice In Palestine to be banned from university campuses and potentially prosecuted.Mike Sapraicone, a former New York police department detective, is “near the top” of the list being considered by Republicans, according to the New York Times. Sapraicone, who founded a security business after leaving the NYPD, announced his run for Santos’s seat in October.“I think running a business teaches you how to understand people and work together,” Sapraicone told Fox5 NY.Sapraicone’s background as a police officer, and his deep pockets – he has lent his campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars – “could be helpful in a region where public safety has been a top electoral concern and TV ads are expensive”, the New York Times reported.Jack Martins, who won his seat in the New York state senate by defeating Anna Kaplan last year, is another potential nominee. A longtime fixture in New York Republican circles, he ran for Congress in 2016, losing to Suozzi.ABC7 New York reported that Martins, who described Santos as “a fraud” earlier this year, “​​seems hesitant to run, but may be pulled into a special election to hold the seat”. More

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      How George Santos responded to being fact-checked on 14 of his biggest lies

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      The Republican congressman George Santos, who was expelled from Congress on Friday, still faces a sweeping federal indictment over his use of campaigns funds as well as other ethics questions that stem from his improbable, and indeed hard to believe, political career.The walls started to crumble for him in mid-December last year when the New York Times challenged many aspects of Santos’s supposed background – for one, that he is the “embodiment of the American dream” and had run for Congress to safeguard it for others.What is particularly remarkable about Santos is his ability to dodge and evade whenever he is called out for factual inaccuracies.Some choice examples:1Graduated from Baruch CollegeClaim: Santos, the son of Brazilian immigrants, and the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a non-incumbent, described himself as a New York public college graduate at Baruch. The college found no record of Santos as a student.Santos’s response: In an interview with the New York Post soon after the allegations surfaced, Santos confessed he hadn’t graduated from “from any institution of higher learning” and had used a “poor choice of words”.2Held positions at Citigroup and Goldman SachsClaim: He said he became a “seasoned Wall Street financier and investor”, holding jobs at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Citigroup and Goldman Sachs said they had no record of Santos ever working there.Santos’s response: He told the Post he had “never worked directly” for Goldman Sachs or Citigroup.3Landlord of 13 propertiesClaim: Santos said he ran a family-owned portfolio of 13 properties. He asserted in an interview that his “family’s firm”, the Devolder Organization, managed $80m in assets.Santos’s response: He acknowledged that, far from having an extensive property portfolio, he had been in debt to his landlord – a result of medical debt from his mother’s cancer battle. “It’s the vulnerability of being human. I am not embarrassed by it.”4Dog rescuerClaim: He said he ran animal rescue charity, Friends of Pets United. There had been no dog charity, though he may have swindled a veteran over a pet’s medical bills and swindled off an Amish dog breeder with a bad check, according to Politico.Santos’s response: Santos told City & State that he’d worked on the non-profit but “never claimed to fly solo” on the group. “I was the guy picking up poop, cleaning, getting people, doing campaigns online,” he said.5Lost employees in Pulse shootingClaim: He said the Devolder organization had “lost four employees” at the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. But a check over the victims found that none of the 49 victims were connected to the company.Santos’s response: Santos backtracked, saying the four people had not worked for him directly. “But we did have people who were being hired to work for the company at the time … but yes, we did lose four people who were going to be coming to work for the company.”6Family escaped NazisClaim: Santos’s campaign website said that his mother was Jewish and his grandparents escaped the Nazis during the second world war. Santos’s response: Santos later clarified that he was “clearly Catholic”, but claimed his grandmother told stories about being Jewish and later converting to Catholicism. “I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos said. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was ‘Jew-ish’.”7Former Disney actorClaim: His Wikipedia biography said he landed roles on Disney Channel shows such as Hannah Montana. Politico noted that if Santos’s Wikipedia entry, which contained the Hannah Montana claim, was not written by Santos – who was then posing as Anthony Devolder – it would mean it was written by someone posing as Santos. Santos’s response: Santos’s communications director, Naysa Woomer, refused to respond.8A varied résuméClaim: He said he had been a Broadway producer who had helped produce Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, a 2011 rock musical; a journalist in Brazil; and the target of an “assassination”.Santos’s response: “I am not a criminal,” he told the New York Post. “My sins here are embellishing my résumé. I’m sorry.”9Niece was kidnappedClaim: He said his five-year-old niece has been kidnapped from a playground by Chinese men, possibly from the Chinese government. Santos’s response: “Look, I don’t want to go into like, conspiracy theory,” he told the Times. “But you know, if the shoe fits, right?”10Mother was at WTC on 9/11Claim: He said his mother, Fatima Devolder, had been in the World Trade Center on September 11. Santos’s response: Despite immigration records showing she was not in the US at the time, he told One America News that “the toxic dust that permeated throughout Manhattan and my mother being present [in] downtown Manhattan” led to her death in 2016.11Drag queen in RioClaim: He initially denied being the drag queen Kitara Ravache at the Rio carnival in 2008. Santos’s response: He said: “I had fun at a festival. Sue me for having a life.”12Used campaign funds for Botox and OnlyFansClaim: A congressional ethics committee said $50,000 in campaign funds had been used to pay for Botox treatments, pay down personal credit card bills and other debt; make a $4,127.80 purchase at Hermès; and for small purchases at Sephora and OnlyFans.Santos’s response: Santos told the Fox Business Network: “I’ll indulge you this, I just discovered what OnlyFans was three weeks ago, when it was brought up in a discussion in my office. I was oblivious to the whole concept.”13Local paper broke scandal newsClaim: The North Shore Leader, a local newspaper on Long Island that covers Great Neck – a part of Santos’s New York congressional district three, a wealthy area – began reporting on his alleged fraud in 2020, referring to him as George Scamtos. Editor Kim Tyndall said “voters ignored or didn’t avail themselves” of the reporting.Santos’s response: “I ran in 2020 for the same exact seat for Congress and I got away with it then,” he told Piers Morgan, adding he “didn’t think” he would get caught.14Lies would not deny him successClaim: Whatever exagerations he had made, he said, the controversy would “not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good”.Santos’s response: After his fate was sealed on Friday, Santos stormed out of Congress and warned that the members had “set a new dangerous precedent for themselves”, adding “to hell with this place”. More

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      George Santos expelled from Congress: a recap of some of his lies – video report

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      The House voted on Friday to expel the Republican George Santos, of New York, after a critical ethics report on his conduct that accused him of converting campaign donations for his own use. He was just the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be ousted by colleagues. The expulsion push is the latest chapter in what has been a spectacular fall from grace for Santos, a first-term lawmaker initially celebrated as an up-and-comer after he flipped a district from Democrats last year and helped Republicans win control of the House. Here is a look back at some of his claims which proved untrue More

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      Republican George Santos expelled from Congress in bipartisan vote

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      The New York Republican, fabulist and accused fraudster George Santos has been expelled from Congress.The vote to expel Santos, the second since his election last year, required a two-thirds majority of those present. The final tally on Friday was 311-114, with two members recorded present and eight absent.Santos therefore becomes only the sixth member ever expelled from the US House. The first three fought for the Confederacy in the civil war. The other two were expelled after being convicted of crimes.Santos has pleaded not guilty to 23 federal fraud charges but has not been tried. A previous expulsion attempt, mounted by members of his own party, failed in part because senior Democrats voted no, citing the dangers of expelling members without convictions secured.But a damning report from the House ethics committee, detailing how Santos used campaign funds for purchases including travel, cosmetic treatment and luxury goods, changed the political equation.Democrats and Republicans introduced motions to force the expulsion vote this week. Mike Johnson, the Republican speaker, sought to persuade Santos to resign – an overture Santos rejected. In the event, Johnson and other senior Republicans voted not to expel. But nor did Johnson attempt to whip his party into line.A majority of Republicans, 112 of 222, voted not to expel. Five did not vote, 105 supporting the motion. Among the New York delegation, 22 members voted for expulsion. Three New York Republicans voted no: Santos himself, Claudia Tenney and Elise Stefanik, the House Republican conference chair.Robert Reich, a Berkeley professor, former US labor secretary and Guardian columnist, said: “George Santos may be gone from Congress, but a majority of Republicans voted against expelling him – including the entire House GOP leadership. The Republican party once again showed that it doesn’t really care about ethics or the law, only power.”Johnson took the gavel to announce the final vote tally. Santos, who stood through the vote with his coat round his shoulders, soon left the chamber.Sharon Eliza Nichols, communications director for Eleanor Holmes Norton, the Democratic delegate for the District of Columbia, alluded to Cinderella when she said: “And just like that, without even a goodbye twirl, George Santos hopped in her carriage and departed.”But he has shown no sign of going quietly. On Thursday, railing against the looming vote, Santos attacked other members, introducing his own expulsion resolution against Jamaal Bowman (a New York Democrat who admitted pulling a fire alarm in a congressional office building, a misdemeanour) and calling Max Miller, a Republican from Ohio, an “accused … woman beater” in a clash on the House floor.Santos’s district must now hold a special election within 90 days. On Friday, the Democratic governor of New York, Kathy Hochul, said she was “prepared to undertake the solemn responsibility of filling the vacancy in New York’s third district. The people of Long Island deserve nothing less.”Santos won the seat as part of a New York Republican “red wave” in the midterm elections last year, a key part of Democrats’ loss of control of the House.But as Santos’s résumé quickly unraveled under press scrutiny, alleged criminal behaviour, in Brazil and the US, was also brought to light.Amid a flood of increasingly bizarre stories, including about Santos’s past as a drag performer in Brazil and a claim to have been a volleyball star at a college he did not attend, Santos admitted embellishing his record but denied wrongdoing.Achieving notoriety, he made common cause with Republican extremists such as Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a prominent Trump ally.Kevin McCarthy, the speaker from January until October, resisted taking action other than withdrawing committee assignments, in large part because the GOP controls the House by a slim margin and Santos backed McCarthy through 15 votes for speaker. In October, when the far right made McCarthy the first speaker ever ejected by his own party, Santos did not support the change.Democrats now hope to retake Santos’s seat, to reduce the Republican majority.In a statement on Friday, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or Crew, said: “George Santos’s pattern of unethical and illegal conduct is shocking and continues to escalate. Expulsion from Congress was appropriate and overdue.“He should have resigned and saved Congress all this trouble. Now he’ll be remembered as only the third member of Congress since the civil war to be expelled.”Adav Noti, legal director for the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, said the expulsion of Santos showed that “no one is above the law”, and “the power and potential of ethics enforcement”.“While it should not take violations as egregious as those committed by Santos for this system to work effectively … all Americans have the right to financial honesty from members of Congress, and to effective enforcement against any elected official who deprives the voters of that right.”So rapid was Santos’s rise to infamy, he attracted a biographer who worked fast to produce a book released this week, just three days before Santos was kicked out of Congress.On Friday, the author, Mark Chiusano, posted: “Definitely didn’t think I’d be writing a political obit[uary] for Santos … one year after he was elected, but here we are.” More

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      House debates resolution to expel Republican George Santos – live updates

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      The House has started its resolution debate on expelling New York Republican representative George Santos.Santos has remained defiant and in denial of all charges against him, including wire fraud, arguing that his fellow lawmakers are “bullying” him out of the House.Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
      George Santos remained defiant ahead of the House expulsion vote. In a fiery press conference this morning on Capitol Hill, Santos accused the House ethics report which detailed “pervasive” fraud as “slanderous” and “littered in hyperbole, littered in opinion.”
      Anna Kaplan, a former Democratic New York state senator who is challenging George Santos for his House seat, has responded to the upcoming House expulsion vote surrounding Santos, saying: “If George Santos is expelled tomorrow, the special election will be right around the corner. I am battle tested, and I am ready to flip New York’s third congressional district blue. We’ve already raised over $1m. We’re just getting started.”
      New York Democratic representative Jamaal Bowman has released a statement in response to George Santos’s vows to introduce a privileged resolution to expel him today, saying: “No one in Congress, or anywhere in America, takes soon-to-be former congressman George Santos seriously, This is just another meaningless stunt in his long history of cons, antics and outright fraud.”
      A New York appellate court reinstated a gag order on Thursday that prohibited Donald Trump and his lawyers from publicly commenting on court staff in the former president’s civil fraud case. “Petitioners having moved to stay enforcement of the aforesaid gag order and supplemental limited gag order pending hearing and determination of the instant petition. Now, upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, it is ordered that the motion is denied,” the court stated.
      Donald Trump continues to attack the wife of the New York state judge Arthur Engoron, who imposed a gag order on Trump in the former president’s civil fraud case in New York. In a series of posts on Truth Social, Trump has accused Dawn Engoron of posting anti-Trump memes on X, formerly known as Twitter. Dawn has said that the X account is not run by her.
      Donald Trump’s lawyer Christopher Kise has condemned the reinstatement of the gag order, telling CBS: “In a country where the first amendment is sacrosanct, President Trump may not even comment on why he thinks he cannot get a fair trial.”
      The Joe Biden administration has announced new action to protect communities from lead exposure. In a statement released on Thursday, the White House revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency has announced a proposal to “strengthen its lead and cooper rule that would require water systems to replace lead service lines within 10 years, helping secure safe drinking water for communities across the country.”
      A vote on Santos’s fate will take place tomorrow.Republican leaders delayed the vote, saying that they have other business to get to today. Tomorrow’s vote will be the third time this year that the chamber has considered expelling Santos.The debate has concluded.In a final defense, Santos remained defiant. He did not offer much defense of himself, but said he would not resign.“If tomorrow, when this vote is on the floor, it is in the conscience of all of my colleagues that they believe this is a correct thing to do, so be it. Take the vote. I am at peace,” he said.“I do not believe that the Long Island crew is acting in bad faith, just exceedingly bad judgement,” said the Florida Republican representative Matt Gaetz.“Since the beginning of this Congress, there’s only two ways you get expelled. You get convicted of a crime or you participated in a civil war. Neither of those apply to George Santos and so I rise, not to defend George Santos, whoever he is, but to defend the very precedent that my colleagues are willing to shatter,” he added.“I’ve heard your argument. I feel your passion. I understand your position but you’re about to go too far. Just calm down and step back,” said the Louisiana Republican representative Clay Higgins as he addressed the House.“This is what I advise my colleagues on both sides of the aisle … We’re talking about the removal of a member of Congress. Are the American people to believe the opinions of congressmen is a higher standard than the delivered vote of the American people? Is a report from a committee a higher standard than the two-year election cycle as established by our founding fathers and enshrined in our constitution? Calm down,” said Higgins.The floor has been yielded back to George Santos who is now saying: “We hear a lot about process, we hear a lot about findings … this process has been skewed, how this process is sloppy.”He added that this process “is contradictory to the core”.The findings of the committee were shocking,” said the Republican representative Michael Guest of Mississippi.“We know that the ethics committee authorized 37 subpoenas. They issued 43 requests for information. They interviewed 40 witnesses. They reviewed 172,000 pages of documents and they issued a 56-page investigation report,” he said.“The report … paints a picture of the fraud committed by Santos,” he continued, pulling up a large display of the language used in the report.“Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit,” the display read, quoting from the report.“He blatantly stole from his campaign. He deceived donors into providing what they thought were contribution to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit,” it added.“I’m not trying to be arrogant or spiteful or disrespectful of the [ethics] committee but I’m curious to know, what is the schedule of the ethics committee?” said Santos, complaining that other findings launched by the ethics committee have taken years.“Why rush this? To deliver a predetermined outcome sought out by some members of our conference? Or some members of this body?” he added.“It is a predetermined necessity for some members in this body to engage in this smear campaign to destroy me. I will not stand by quietly,” he continued.“Every member expelled in history of this institution has been convicted of crimes or confederate turncoats guilty of treason. Neither of those apply to me but here we are,” said George Santos in his House remarks.“On what basis does this body feel that that precedent must be changed for me?” he said.“I have been convicted of no crimes, Mr Speaker. My loyalty to this country … is true and unquestionable,” he added.The House has started its resolution debate on expelling New York Republican representative George Santos.Santos has remained defiant and in denial of all charges against him, including wire fraud, arguing that his fellow lawmakers are “bullying” him out of the House.The Joe Biden administration has announced new action to protect communities from lead exposure.In a statement released on Thursday, the White House revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency has announced a proposal to “strengthen its lead and cooper rule that would require water systems to replace lead service lines within 10 years, helping secure safe drinking water for communities across the country.”
      The president’s bipartisan infrastructure law invests over $50bn for the largest upgrade to the nation’s water infrastructure in history, and today’s action builds on these historic levels of funding from president Biden’s Investing in America agenda, a key pillar of Bidenomics, to replace lead service lines across the nation,” the White House said.
      Joe Biden has once again reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to upholding protections surrounding reproductive healthcare.“Congress must codify the protections of Roe v Wade,” he tweeted on Thursday.Donald Trump’s lawyer Christopher Kise has condemned the reinstatement of the gag order, telling CBS:“In a country where the first amendment is sacrosanct, President Trump may not even comment on why he thinks he cannot get a fair trial.”Kise, who called today’s decision “a tragic day for the rule of law,” added: “Hard to imagine a more unfair process and hard to believe this is happening in America.” More