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George Santos says he expects he’ll be expelled from Congress
Washington — Embattled Rep. George Santos said he expects to be expelled from Congress in the coming days and will “wear it like a badge of honor.”
“I know I’m going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor,” the New York Republican said Friday on an X Space hosted by conservative media personality Monica Matthews.
“I have done the math over and over,” he said, laughing, “and it doesn’t look really good.”
The Ethics Committee released a 56-page report earlier this month that said there was “substantial evidence” that Santos violated federal law. The report alleged Santos funneled large sums of money through his campaign and businesses to pay for his personal expenses, including on cosmetic procedures such as Botox, at luxury stores Hermès and Ferragamo, on smaller purchases at OnlyFans, a website containing adult content, meals, parking, travel and rent.
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After the report’s release, Rep. Michael Guest, the chairman of the Ethics Committee, introduced a resolution to expel Santos. Guest, a Mississippi Republican, said the findings were “more than sufficient to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment is expulsion.”
Calling his colleague an obscenity, Santos dared Guest to introduce his resolution as “privileged,” meaning the House would be required to consider the measure within two legislative days.
“He thought that he was going to bully me out of Congress,” Santos said, adding that he would not resign and calling the report “a political opposition hit piece at best.”
“I want to see them set this precedent,” he said. “Because this precedent sets a new era of due process, which means you are guilty until proven innocent, we will take your accusations and use it to smear, to mangle, to destroy you and remove you from society. That is what they are doing with this.”
Santos declined to address the specific allegations in the report, claiming they were “slanderous.” He said defending himself against the allegations could be used against him in the federal case. Santos has pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges.
Santos also lashed out at his colleagues, accusing them of adultery, voting hungover and handing out their voting cards like “candy for someone else to vote for them.”
“There’s felons galore,” he said. “There’s people with all sorts of sheisty backgrounds. And all of a sudden, George Santos is the Mary Magdalene of United States Congress.”
During the hourslong discussion, Rep. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, logged onto the X Space and pressed Santos on why he wouldn’t resign.
“Why not just do the right thing and resign?” Garcia said. “We’re going to vote to expel you, George.”
Santos said he hasn’t been found guilty of anything.
“George, we’re going to expel you,” Garcia repeated.
“And that’s fine,” Santos said. “You’re saying it like I’m scared of it, Robert. I’m not scared of it. … I resign, I admit everything that’s in that report, which most of it is some of the craziest s—t I’ve ever read in my life.”
NEW YORK — Former New York Gov. David Paterson and his stepson were attacked in New York City on Friday night, authorities said.
The incident occurred just before 9 p.m. on Second Avenue near East 96th Street on the Upper East Side, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police said officers were sent to the scene after an assault was reported. When officers arrived, police say they found a 20-year-old man suffering from facial injuries and a 70-year-old man who had head pain. Both victims were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the former governor said the two were attacked while “taking a walk around the block near their home by some individuals that had a previous interaction with his stepson.”
The spokesperson said that they were injured “but were able to fight off their attackers.”
Both were taken to Cornell Hospital “as a precaution,” he added.
Police said no arrests have been made and the investigation is ongoing.
The 70-year-old Paterson, a Democrat, served as governor from 2008 to 2010, stepping into the post after the resignation of Eliot Spitzer following his prostitution scandal. He made history at the time as the state’s first-ever Black and legally blind governor.
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A 17-year-old boy was critically injured and a person is in custody after a gunman opened fire on a SEPTA bus in North Philadelphia Friday evening, police said.
At around 6:15 p.m., Philadelphia police were notified about a shooting on a SEPTA bus traveling on Allegheny Avenue near 3rd and 4th streets in North Philadelphia, Inspector D F Pace told CBS News Philadelphia.
There were an estimated 30 people on the bus at the time of the shooting, Pace said, but only the 17-year-old boy was believed to have been shot. Investigators said they believe it was a targeted attack on the teenager and that he was shot in the back of the bus at close range.
According to Pace, the SEPTA bus driver alerted a control center about the shooting, which then relayed the message to Philadelphia police, who responded to the scene shortly.
Officers arrived at the scene and found at least one spent shell casing and blood on the bus, but no shooting victim, Pace said. Investigators later discovered the 17-year-old had been taken to Temple University Hospital where he is said to be in critical condition, according to police.
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Through their preliminary investigation, police learned those involved in the SEPTA shooting may have fled in a silver-colored Kia.
Authorities then found a car matching the description of the Kia speeding in the area and a pursuit began, Pace said. Police got help from a PPD helicopter as they followed the Kia, which ended up crashing at 5th and Greenwood streets in East Mount Airy. Pace said the Kia crashed into a parked car.
The driver of the crashed car ran away but police were still able to take them into custody, Pace said.
Investigators believe there was a second person involved in the shooting who ran from the car before it crashed. Police said they believe this person escaped near Allegheny Avenue and 4th Street, leaving a coat behind.
According to Pace, police also found a gun and a group of spent shell casings believed to be involved in the shooting in the same area.
“It’s very possible that there may have been a shooting inside the bus and also shots fired from outside of the bus toward the bus,” Pace said, “We’re still trying to piece all that together at this time.”
This is an active investigation and police are reviewing surveillance footage from the SEPTA bus.