Accused of corruption: for the first time in 20 years, a congressman was expelled from the US House of Representatives
Kyiv • UNN
George Santos, a Republican from New York, was expelled from the House of Representatives due to fraud and identity theft charges. 311 members of the House voted in favor of his expulsion. His departure narrows the Republican majority, and a special election is expected in February to fill his seat.
Congressman George Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives. Previously, only 5 people had been expelled from Congress by a general vote, and three of these cases occurred during the US Civil War in the 19th century, UNN reports with reference to Voice of America.
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George Santos is a Republican from New York who is accused of fraud, money laundering and theft of donor money and personal data.
Several of Santos' claims have been disproven by investigations, including his claim that his ancestors fled Ukraine to escape the pogroms.
House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that 311 House members voted to expel Santos, including 105 Republicans. Another 114 voted against.
All four House GOP leaders, including Johnson, voted to keep Santos in Congress.
After Santos' expulsion, the advantage that Republicans have in the U.S. House of Representatives has diminished. Who will replace Santos in Congress will be determined by a special election.
Expected in February, they will, according to Politico, set off a critical contest for control of the House of Representatives in 2024.
"The special election will attract a lot of press attention, be well-funded and very interesting," New York Democratic Party Chairwoman Jay Jacobs told Politico.
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Ousted Congressman George Santos is known for "embellishing" his resume, making false claims about the deaths of family members on September 11 and his own Jewish Ukrainian ancestry.
"George Santos' claims that his grandparents 'survived the Holocaust' as Ukrainian Jewish refugees who changed their names to survive contradict sources verified by CNN's KFile," the media reported.
Santos claimed that his maternal grandfather was from Ukraine and fled to Brazil to escape Nazism. In another account, a New York Republican said his grandparents converted to Catholicism during the rise of Nazism in Belgium after fleeing Joseph Stalin and the Soviet Union. In another story, he claimed that his family changed their name to survive Nazism.
