Yahoo Movies Rep. George Santos Resigns From House Committees Until Investigations Are Complete: Report
Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images Rep. George Santos outside his office on Capitol Hill
New York Rep. George Santos has told colleagues he is resigning from two House committees, Axios reports, but that the resignation is only temporary while a number of investigations into the new lawmaker play out.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed the news to the outlet, telling Axios: "I met with George Santos yesterday ... We had a discussion and he asked me if he could do that."
McCarthy added that he felt "it was an appropriate decision that, until he can clear everything up, he's off of committees right now."
The news that Santos was temporarily resigning from his assignments on the Small Business and Science Committees comes just days after reports indicated that the Department of Justice is investigating the lawmaker.
Last week, the Washington Post reported that the DOJ asked the Federal Election Commission to hold off on taking any action against Santos — a signal that the DOJ itself may be investigating the Republican's campaign finances, which have raised numerous questions.
Santos, who was sworn into office earlier this month, came under fire in December, when The New York Times reported that a large portion of his biography could not be substantiated. The outlet alleged that he misled voters about his level of education, previous jobs and family ties to the Holocaust, news that earned bipartisan condemnation in recent days for misrepresenting himself.
In an interview with the New York Post, the congressman admitted he lied about working at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, as he had previously asserted, and revealed that he had also embellished his education, noting that he did not attend Baruch College or New York University.
But many questions about Santos' background remain, including those about his finances and the source of his campaign funding.
Santos is currently under investigation by federal authorities and by the Nassau County District Attorney's Office in New York.
The New York Times reports that the federal investigation is being run by the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn and focuses "at least in part on his financial dealings."
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In 2020, when Santos launched his first run for the House, he stated in a financial disclosure that he had no assets and no earned income. But his financial situation appeared to have markedly improved by the time he decided to launch a second run for the House in 2022, with Federal Election Commission filings showing he lent at least $700,000 to his campaign, and $27,000 to his political action committee.
A recent complaint filed by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center with the FEC alleges Santos engaged in a number of campaign finance violations, such as using campaign resources to cover personal expenses, like his rent, and falsifying its disclosure of day-to-day campaign expenses. The complaint also questions whether Santos acted as a "straw donor" to hide the true source of his campaign funds.
