118th CONGRESS 1st Session |
In the matter of George Santos.
August 11, 2023
Mr. Goldman of New York submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ethics
In the matter of George Santos.
Whereas Representative George Santos deceived and defrauded the voters of New York’s Third Congressional District by falsely representing his education, his employment history, his religion, his campaign finances, and his family’s connections to some of the world’s most tragic events of the past century;
Whereas George Santos falsely represented that he is a member of the Jewish faith, including the lie that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors;
Whereas George Santos falsely represented that his mother survived the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001;
Whereas George Santos falsely represented that 4 of his employees died in the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida;
Whereas George Santos falsely represented that he received a bachelor’s degree from Baruch College where he was a volleyball champion, and that he received a master’s degree from New York University;
Whereas George Santos falsely represented that he had worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup;
Whereas, in May 2016, George Santos reportedly stole $3,000 from 2 New Jersey veterans by fraudulently creating a GoFundMe page to raise money for lifesaving surgery for 1 veteran’s dog but that was never used for its stated purpose;
Whereas George Santos falsely claimed that he founded an animal rescue charity that saved more than 2,500 dogs and cats;
Whereas Representative George Santos ran for Congress in 2020, and stated in his financial disclosure report for that campaign that he possessed no assets, real estate, or dividends, and received a salary of $55,000 from his then-employer;
Whereas, as early as January 15, 2021, Representative George Santos’s campaign committee received more than $5,000 in contributions in support of his candidacy for the congressional seat in New York’s Third Congressional District;
Whereas, on April 17, 2021, Mr. Santos filed his Statement of Candidacy, and by that time, his campaign had received more than $200,000 in contributions;
Whereas individuals who become a candidate for the House of Representatives must file a financial disclosure report (or request an extension) no later than 30 days after they raise or spend $5,000 towards their House race, and in no case later than 30 days after filing;
Whereas Mr. Santos was required to file his first financial disclosure report no later than May 15, 2021, and a second financial disclosure report on May 16, 2022;
Whereas Mr. Santos failed to seek an extension of his filing deadline yet did not file any financial disclosure report until September 6, 2022, after the Republican primary on August 23, 2022;
Whereas in the financial disclosure report September 6, 2022, Mr. Santos reported a checking account balance of more than $100,000, a savings account balance of more than $1,000,000, an apartment in Brazil valued between $500,000 and $1,000,000, the receipt of “dividends” in excess of $1,000,000, and a salary of $750,000 that he paid himself for both 2021 and 2022 from an entity he incorporated in May 2021;
Whereas Mr. Santos’s entity was dissolved by the State of Florida for failure to file an annual statement that would have disclosed details about the entity’s finances;
Whereas Mr. Santos admitted that he did not own an apartment in Brazil and confessed to Brazilian authorities that he engaged in identity theft and check fraud;
Whereas in his 2022 campaign, Mr. Santos donated a total of $705,000 to his campaign, $580,000 of which was made before he ever filed a financial disclosure report for the 2022 election cycle;
Whereas Mr. Santos was indicted by the Department of Justice on May 9, 2023, for wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to the House of Representatives;
Whereas, on February 9, 2023, House Resolution 114, One Hundred Eighteenth Congress (H. Res. 114), was introduced in the House calling for the expulsion of Representative Santos, and was referred to the Committee on Ethics;
Whereas, on May 17, 2023, the House voted to once again refer H. Res. 114 to the Committee on Ethics;
Whereas, on May 17, 2023, the Speaker promised that the Committee on Ethics would expedite its investigation and other Republicans said that the Committee would report back to the full House within 60 days; and
Whereas more than 60 days have elapsed, and the Committee on Ethics has not reported back to the House about any findings from its investigation: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,