Republicans still can't bring themselves to expel a criminal from their party. They keep protecting criminals just like they do for Donald Trump. Republicans are not serious about "law and order" or crime.
Effort to expel Santos falters as Republicans vote to send measure to Ethics Committee
WASHINGTON (AP) — A resolution to expel Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., from Congress was referred to the House Ethics Committee on Wednesday as Republicans successfully sidestepped an effort to force them into a vote that could have narrowed their already slim four-seat majority.
The House voted along party lines, 221-204, to refer the matter to the ethics panel, with Santos himself joining his GOP colleagues in voting to do so.
The freshman congressman has been charged with embezzling money from his campaign, falsely receiving unemployment funds and lying to Congress about his finances. He has denied the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., introduced a resolution in February to expel Santos, something the House has only done twice in recent decades. He sought to force a vote on that resolution under a process that left three options for Republicans: a vote on the resolution, a move to table, or a referral to committee.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy chose the third option, much to the chagrin of Democrats who described it as a “complete copout.” They noted that the ethics panel is already investigating Santos and that it was time for Republican House members who have called for Santos to resign to back their words with action.
“It is simply an effort for the Republicans to avoid having to take an up-or-down vote on whether or not George Santos belongs here,” said Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y.
Santos made clear to reporters after the vote he has no intention of resigning. As he spoke on the Capitol steps, he was heckled by Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman. Bowman yelled, “Resign, save yourself, have some dignity.”
“I understand that politics is complicated, but the reality is there is a procedure,” Santos said. “You can’t be judge, jury and executioner. I have a right, a constitutional right, to defend myself and I will do that. And I look forward to doing that. I look forward to seeing the process play out.”
Democrats appealed to Republican lawmakers from New York for support. Many have been highly critical of Santos, and face the prospect of Democrats trying to link them to Santos in next year’s general election.
“I say to you, if you vote for this motion to refer it to the Ethics Committee, you are complicit in George Santos’ fraud and you are voting to make sure that he continues to be a member of Congress,” Goldman said.
Rep. Anthony D’Esposito, R-N.Y., made the motion to refer the expulsion resolution to the ethics panel. He said he was personally in favor of Santos being expelled, but added that “regrettably,” there were not enough votes to meet the two-thirds threshold necessary.
"I firmly believe this is the quickest way of ridding the House of Representatives of this scourge on government,” D’Esposito said.
Republican leaders have said Santos deserves to have his day in court before Congress weighs in. The position Republican leaders have staked out generally follows the precedent that Congress has set in similar criminal cases over the years. The House has expelled just two members in recent decades, and both votes occurred after the lawmaker had been convicted on federal charges.
The Department of Justice often asks the ethics panel to pause its investigations when a member of Congress has been indicted, but there has been no announcement of that kind from the committee regarding Santos.
https://apnews.com/article/george-santos-congress-vote-expel-ethics-caed2b1fce3ebb86c87929f2de9fc03eKyrsten Sinema hammered in FEC complaint over campaign spending on her 'lifestyle of luxury'
The FEC is in receipt of a formal complaint levied against Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) accusing of her using campaign donations to finance a lavish lifestyle that has nothing to do with the job voters sent her to Congress to do.
According to a report from AZCentral, the controversial lawmaker who recently abandoned the Democratic Party to become an independent, is being accused of spending campaign donations on "lavish” trips to London and Paris, with the group who filed the complaint calling for an investigation.
The report notes that Change for Arizona 2024, a PAC also known as Replace Sinema, wants the FEC to put the Arizona senator and her campaign expenditures under the microscope.
The complaint accuses her of "living a lifestyle of luxury financed by her special interest donors, to the detriment of her constituents in Arizona.”
According to Luis Avila, a senior adviser with Change for Arizona 2024, "We have been watching with growing concern the instances of Sinema abusing the power of her office, exploiting her campaign and Senate accounts for personal use. We now demand an official investigation into whether Sen. Sinema has broken the law."
The report notes, "Sinema and her allied PACs detailed spending at various luxurious hotels beginning in 2019 and continuing through at least 2022, the complaint notes. In all, there were 51 expenditures totaling nearly $36,000 to 17 hotels the complaint characterizes as 'luxury hotels, resorts and spas' in France, the United Kingdom and ski resorts in Colorado and Utah."
"Beyond Sinema’s travel expenses, the complaint notes nearly $20,000 in wine expenses, $9,000 in meal costs at expensive restaurants and 'an astonishing $45,000 in campaign and PAC Expenditures on chauffeured car services.' Sinema used campaign and official funds on charter air services totaling $70,000 over a 12-month span beginning in 2021,”reports AZCentral's Ronald Hansen.
The filing notes, "The fact that Respondents reported spending more money in Europe on Senator Sinema’s 2022 trip than she concurrently raised from donors strongly suggests that her fundraising was a cover for travel undertaken for personal benefit.”
Read More Here: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/05/19/senator-kyrsten-sinema-faces-complaint-of-indulgent-campaign-spending/70236623007/
