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Former Rep. George Santos says he’s leaving the Republican Party, will run as an independent
NEW YORK – Former Rep. George Santos said Friday he’s leaving the Republican Party.
His announcement comes after the House passed a massive $1.2 trillion spending package that funds the government through September ahead of a midnight deadline to avert a partial shutdown.
That measure passed 286 to 134, with a majority of Republicans voting against it. After it passed, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia filed a “motion to vacate,” a move that lays the groundwork for an eventual vote to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson.
“After today’s embarrassing showing in the house I have reflected and decided that I can no longer be part of the Republican Party… The Republican Party continues to lie and swindle its voter base. I in good conscience cannot affiliate myself with a party that stands for nothing and falls for everything. I am officially suspending my petitioning in #NY01 to access the ballot as a Republican and will be [filing] to run as an independent… I will take my Ultra MAGA/Trump supporting values to the ballot in November as an Independent,” Santos wrote on X.
Santos had previously announced plans to challenge Republican Rep. Nick LaLota in New York’s First Congressional District, which includes eastern Long Island.
LaLota responded to that by releasing a statement saying, “To raise the standard in Congress, and to hold a pathological liar who stole an election accountable, I led the charge to expel George Santos. If finishing the job requires beating him in a primary, count me in.”
All this comes as Santos faces 23 federal charges related to alleged wire fraud, identity theft and campaign finance violations and other crimes. His trial is set for September.
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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.