House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) will be removed from Congress if an investigation finds that he broke the law.
Santos is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. The investigation resulted from revelations that the freshman congressman had lied about numerous parts of his life and career. In addition to the Ethics Committee inquiry, Santos is currently under investigation by a variety of federal and state entities.
McCarthy has mostly defended Santos, condemning specific misdeeds but refusing to denounce him completely, unlike many other House Republicans. McCarthy’s remarks Tuesday are perhaps the closest he has come yet to outright condemning Santos.
SPEAKER MCCARTHY’S REFUSAL TO PUNISH GEORGE SANTOS IS ITSELF A SCANDAL
“If for some way when we go through Ethics and he has broken the law, then we will remove him,” McCarthy told reporters outside his Capitol office, per Axios.
However, he followed the remark with a defense of the New York Republican.
“You know why I’m standing by him? Because his constituents voted for him,” he said. “I do not have the power, simply because I disagree with somebody on what they have said, that I will remove them from elected office.”
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McCarthy noted last week that he had “always had a few questions” about Santos’s resume.
