Notice of Intention to Offer Resolution Raising A Question of the Privileges of the House

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. D'ESPOSITO. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to clause 2(a)(1) of rule IX, I rise to give notice of my intention to raise a question of the privileges of the House.

The form of the resolution is as follows:

H. Res. 773 providing for the expulsion of Representative George Santos from the House of Representatives.

Whereas, George Anthony Devolder Santos, known as George Santos, was elected to represent New York's Third Congressional District in the House of Representatives on November 8, 2022;

Whereas, after election day, it was revealed George Santos lied about a significant portion of his background, including his education and previous employment;

Whereas, George Santos has a long history of misrepresenting his and his family's connections to major events, including the Holocaust, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the Pulse nightclub shooting;

Whereas, on May 9, 2023, George Santos was indicted on 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds, and lying on Federal financial disclosure forms to the House of Representatives;

Whereas, a Federal grand jury indicted an aide to George Santos' campaign on charges of wire fraud and identity theft for defrauding potential donors by impersonating Speaker Kevin McCarthy's former chief of staff;

Whereas, on October 5, 2023, George Santos' former campaign treasurer pled guilty to falsifying campaign finance records, including lying about a $500,000 loan that George Santos claimed to have donated to the campaign himself;

Whereas, on October 10, 2023, George Santos was federally charged with an additional 10 criminal counts;

Whereas, the additional charges were serious in nature, including conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, false statements to the Federal Election Commission, and falsifying records to obstruct the Commission;

Whereas, the indictment outlined a vast amount of evidence against Santos, including conversations he held with his former campaign treasurer outlining plans to commit the fraud he is charged with;

Whereas, these charges indicate that George Santos engaged in serious financial fraud throughout his 2022 campaign for the House of Representatives;

Whereas, George Santos stole over $44,000 from donors by charging their credit cards without authorization;

Whereas, George Santos directly profited from his fraudulent actions, including transferring money to his own bank account to buy luxury items and pay off debts;

Whereas, George Santos engaged in election fraud throughout his 2022 campaign by deceiving voters regarding his biography, defrauding donors, and engaging in other illegal campaign behavior; and

Whereas, as a result of these actions, George Santos is not fit to serve his constituents as a United States Representative:

Now, therefore, be it resolved that, pursuant to Article I, Section 5, Clause 2 of the Constitution of the United States of America, Representative George Santos be, and he hereby is, expelled from the House of Representatives.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source