WASHINGTON – Rep. George Santos, RN.Y., said Tuesday that he will recuse himself from his committee assignments amid multiple investigations into his finances and other matters.
“With the continued attention surrounding my campaign and personal financial investigations, I have submitted a request to Chairman McCarthy to be temporarily recused from my committee assignments until cleared,” Santos said in a statement.
“This was a decision that I take very seriously,” he added. “The business of the 118th Congress must proceed without media fanfare. It is important that I focus primarily on serving the voters of New York’s Third Congressional District and providing representation at the federal level without distraction.”
Santos, who has admitted to lying about much of his background and has faced numerous calls to resign from Congress, has been given seats on the Small Business and Science committees. He told reporters on Tuesday that he is not considering stepping down.
He shared his decision during a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning with House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York, he told reporters at a news conference.
Santos, however, hasn’t gone far enough in the eyes of two fellow Republicans who represent congressional districts on Long Island.
“This is a classic case of someone resigning just before being fired,” representatives Nick LaLota and Anthony D’Esposito said in a joint statement. “While we, and the overwhelming percentage of Long Islanders we represent, are relieved to see that Santos will not undeservedly sit on committees, he still needs to do the right thing and resign. That is in the best interests of his constituents. and House of Republicans.”
In a survey published on Tuesday Newsday and the University of Siena, 71% of voters in the Santos district said Chairman Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., should not have seated Santos on the two committees, and 78% said they believed he should resign from Congress. Asked Tuesday if Santos should resign, Stefanik said “the process will unfold itself” in the next election.
Santos is under investigation by the Nassau County district attorney and federal prosecutors in New York. Law enforcement sources have said federal authorities are looking into his finances, including possible irregularities related to financial disclosures and loans he made to his campaign. The state attorney general’s office has also said it is “investigating a number of matters” related to Santos.
Santos met with McCarthy on Monday night. Speaking to reporters separately Tuesday, McCarthy said Santos asked if he could recuse himself from his committee assignments. “I think it was the appropriate decision,” McCarthy said.
Santos told reporters Tuesday that McCarthy did not request the recusal. “No one tells me to do anything. I made a decision on my own,” he said.
The GOP Steering Committee, which is led by McCarthy and distributes committee appropriations, voted this month to give Santos seats on the panels, which are two of the lowest-profile on Capitol Hill.
“The voters elected him, and he will have a voice here in Congress, and until he answers all those questions, then, at that point, he can sit on committees,” McCarthy said of the investigations. Holy faces.
Members of both parties expressed concern about Santos’ access to classified information through his committee work. At the same time, all legislators can regularly participate in classified briefings, such as those provided by administration officials.
Last week, McCarthy said that while he supports Santos, he will be removed from office if the House Ethics Committee determines he violated the law.
Santos first came under scrutiny after The New York Times published a bombshell research in December stating that much of his resume appeared to have been fabricated, including claims that he owned numerous properties, had previously been an employee of Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and had graduated from Baruch College. He has also lied about how his mother was at the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Santos has repeatedly said that he plans to explain the inconsistencies, but has not followed through on those promises.
summer conception Y ryan nobles contributed.
