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Over the centuries, some new members of Congress have struggled as their careers on Capitol Hill have gotten underway, but it’s probably fair to say that Rep. George Santos’ start is the worst anyone has ever seen. We are, after all, talking about a New York Republican who, in recent months, has confronted a local investigation, a state investigation, a Justice Department investigation, an international investigation, and a congressional ethics investigation.
For many observers, the question wasn’t whether the prolific liar would ultimately face charges, it was when. The answer, evidently, is now. The New York Times reported this morning:
Representative George Santos, the Republican whose pivotal victory in New York was soon followed by revelations that he had falsified his biography on the campaign trail, surrendered to the authorities at federal court on Long Island on Wednesday morning.
According to the Justice Department’s official statement, the scandal-plagued congressman has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
His arraignment is scheduled for later today. Federal prosecutors' press statement added that the congressman faces "a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the top counts."
Santos has become the fourth member of Congress to be arrested while in office in recent years, following unrelated charges against Republican Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska, Republican Duncan Hunter of California, and Republican Chris Collins of New York. (Hunter and Collins were later convicted, sentenced to prison, and pardoned by Donald Trump.)
What’s less clear is what, if anything, congressional GOP leaders intend to do about this.
As the scandals surrounding Santos intensified, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy abandoned the standards he used to hold and said the New York congressman remained a member in good standing. The GOP leader said in January, however, that party leaders would be prepared to take additional steps if the Santos fiasco rose “to a legal level.”
At the time, the congressman’s scandals were more of a political mess than a criminal one, so McCarthy and others in the party were content to embrace delay tactics: Unless and until Santos was arrested, Republicans didn’t mind looking the other way.
Santos is now in police custody — which means the matter has risen “to a legal level.”
There’s no great mystery as to McCarthy’s motivations: The House Republican majority is tiny, and if Santos were to resign in disgrace, the GOP’s advantage in the chamber would get a little smaller still. The House speaker would almost certainly prefer not to have to worry about the lying congressman, but McCarthy wants and needs Santos’ vote.
Which means as serious as today’s criminal indictment is, Republican leaders probably won’t be too eager to show Santos the door.
For his part, the New York congressman recently filed the paperwork to seek a second term. It stands to reason that his odds aren’t great — especially after getting arrested but it was just a couple of election cycles ago Collins and Hunter faced multi-count felony indictments, ran for re-election anyway, and won anyway.
Watch this space.