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nicole malliotakis
GOP Congressman and Serial Liar George Santos Reportedly Facing 'Long Overdue' Federal Charges
"George Santos needs to resign or be immediately expelled from the House," said one House Democrat who has introduced a resolution to expel him.
May 09, 2023
Prosecutors at the U.S. Department of Justice have filed criminal charges against Republican Congressman George Santos of New York, sources familiar with the matter told multiple media outlets on Tuesday.
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York filed charges against the freshman lawmaker, who is expected to appear in court as soon as Wednesday, according to CNN—which was first to report the news. The nature of the charges against Santos will not be known until he makes his first court appearance.
The FBI and Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York City and Washington, D.C. are investigating accusations that Santos lied in his campaign finance filings, among other allegations.
"George Santos needs to resign or be immediately expelled from the House."
Last December, Nassau County, New York District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly—a Republican—also announced that her office was investigating Santos, then a congressman-elect, over his myriad lies.
"The numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-elect Santos are nothing short of stunning," Donnelly said at the time.
From intrigue surrounding how his net worth skyrocketed from almost nothing to $11 million in less than two years; to demonstrable lies about his education, employment history, residence, and purported Jewish heritage; to allegations of fraud perpetrated in Brazil and against a U.S. combat veteran and his dying dog, Santos' lies have dominated his short congressional career.
While he has admitted to lying about his life, Santos has denied any criminal wrongdoing. Earlier this year, he vowed to serve out his term despite growing calls for him to resign—including from Republican officials in his own district.
Those calls mounted anew following news of Santos' impending indictment.
\u201cThe prosecution of @RepSantosNY03 is long overdue. He is a pathological liar and lawbreaker who defrauded his way into public office.\n\nAs we learn more about this investigation, one thing is clear. He must resign or @HouseGOP must join us to expel him.\nhttps://t.co/exLtkwKsoN\u201d— Rep. Ritchie Torres (@Rep. Ritchie Torres) 1683671128
"We are waiting to see the charges, but we all knew this was where things were heading," said Rep. Nicole Maliotakis (R-N.Y.).
"The sooner he leaves," she added in reference to Santos, "the sooner we can win the seat with someone who isn't a liar."
Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.)—who three months ago introduced a resolution to expel the congressman that more than 40 Democratic lawmakers endorsed—tweeted that "George Santos needs to resign or be immediately expelled from the House."
"Today's news that federal prosecutors are filing criminal charges against George Santos makes it crystal clear that we must act," he added.
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Here Are the Members of Congress Who Dumped Bank Stocks Amid Fears of Financial Crisis
"We need to ban trading in individual stocks by members of Congress to begin to restore the public's faith in elected officials," said one critic.
Apr 20, 2023
As Democratic lawmakers renew their push for a stock trading ban on Capitol Hill, an analysis released Wednesday found that several members of Congress or their close relatives sold bank equities last month as fears of a financial crisis spread in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's collapse.
On March 10, the day SVB failed, Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) sold $65,000 to $150,000 worth of Seacoast Banking Corporation shares, according to disclosure data compiled by Capitol Trades.
The New York Timesreported Wednesday that 48 hours after the Florida Democrat's stock sale, he "said in a television interview that he had attended a bipartisan congressional briefing on the tumult."
"And on March 13, as investors fretted over the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and two other, smaller banks, Seacoast Banking shares fell nearly 20%," the Times noted. "A spokesman for Mr. Moskowitz said in an email that the Seacoast share sales had been suggested by the congressman's financial adviser as a means to diversify his young children's holdings. Mr. Moskowitz said the congressional briefing on the bank crisis had taken place just before the television interview and after the shares were sold."
Moskowitz wasn't alone in selling his bank holdings as the run on SVB and its subsequent fall sparked concerns of contagion, prompting federal regulators to bail out the California-based firm—as well as Signature Bank—and effectively backstop the entire banking sector.
Citing Capitol Trades, the Times reported that Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) "sold shares of First Republic Bank, the large depositor that was rapidly losing both cash and clients, on March 15, the day before it received an industry bailout of $30 million."
"The wife and children of Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, sold First Republic shares that same day," the Times continued. "Rep. John Curtis, Republican of Utah, sold shares in First Republic from a joint account with his spouse on March 16, the day the industry bailout occurred. By that time, First Republic shares had already fallen nearly 80 percent from a February peak. The timing of the sales by those three lawmakers or their relatives meant that the sellers averted an additional price swoon that was still to come."
"People need to have confidence that policymakers are making decisions based on what's best for the country, not what's best for their stock portfolios."
Details of the lawmakers' suspiciously well-timed transactions came a day after Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) led a group of House and Senate members in introducing the Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act, legislation that would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses, and their dependent children from trading individual stocks.
Just one Republican, Rep. Michael Cloud of Texas, has cosponsored the new bill.
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), a longtime proponent of banning stock trading in Congress and a cosponsor of the ETHICS Act, said during a Tuesday press conference that lawmakers "were trading bank stocks" amid widespread turmoil in the financial sector last month.
"We know what position members of Congress can be in, and we know that the temptations are too great for some members of Congress to resist," said Brown, the chair of the Senate Banking Committee. "That's why this legislation is so important. People need to have confidence that policymakers are making decisions based on what's best for the country, not what's best for their stock portfolios."
Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journalreported that two lawmakers—Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.)—"reported trades in bank stocks last month as they worked on government efforts to address fallout from two of the largest bank failures in American history."
"Malliotakis... bought stock in a regional bank before a subsidiary agreed to take over Signature Bank's deposits following its closure," the Journal reported. "Days before she bought the stock, she said she met with financial regulators to discuss the bank’s closure."
Blumenauer, who signed onto legislation that would impose stricter regulations on mid-sized banks, "reported selling between $1,001 and $15,000 in Bank of America stock on March 9, as panic was spreading and shares of the four biggest U.S. banks—including Bank of America—slid," the newspaper added. "A week after the sale, the stock was down 5%."
Adam Smith, vice president for democracy initiatives at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, tweeted Wednesday that "corrupt or not, stories like this make the institution look bad."
"We need to ban trading in individual stocks by members of Congress to begin to restore the public's faith in elected officials," Smith wrote.
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