The vote to get George out

It would be foolish to think matters would improve for George after 13 criminal indictments, and—spoiler!—they haven’t. His colleagues want him out, his staffers are getting out, and it’s all before an actual trial commences.

Better luck in the next incarnation?

GOP Cowardice

The situation with George isn’t a tough nut to crack: He’s been accused of money laundering, wire fraud, theft of public funds, lying to Congress, and a measure to expel him has been brought before the House of Representatives. He’s dead weight, even for the party of sick weirdos with bad ideas who love losing elections. But Speaker McCarthy and co. seem to have a defective nutcracker, because instead of banding together to get Santos out ASAP, they’re insisting on less efficient tack so they can keep their hands clean.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) Garcia, the first openly gay immigrant elected to Congress, has been on Santos’ case since the beginning. On Tuesday, he took the House mic to announce he’d be forcing a vote on a resolution to expel his colleague, the lying congressman from New York. We learned the Republican majority would have two days to call a vote. 

The following day, Republicans brought a vote—only it wasn’t the one Garcia and the Democrats had hoped for. They voted to refer the resolution for George’s expulsion to the House Ethics Committee, which sounds kind of good until you remember that committee is already investigating him!

George’s loudest Republican critics championed the referral, using the moment to draw attention to their fecklessness.

"I believe that this individual is a stain on the institution, a stain on the state of New York, a stain on Long Island and a stain on the beloved Nassau County," Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-NY) said on the House floor Wednesday. "With that said, we believe that this resolution should be sent to the commission on ethics to ensure a thorough and expedient investigation into this matter."

Rep. Nick LaLota, another Long Island Republican, said in a statement after the vote to refer: “While I would have preferred there to be enough votes to expel the sociopath scam artist, Congressman D'Esposito has spearheaded the next best option."

He was referring to the fact that it would require affirmative votes from ⅔ of the House to directly expel Santos, which are votes that Kevin McCarthy apparently doesn’t have. 

Now we wait for the House Ethics Committee to do their thing, for which we have no timeline. Will they come to a decision before or after George’s next court date in late June? Or will they just sit back and let the DOJ do the dirty work? I think you probably know the answer.

Bye, George

Santos’ Communications Director Naysa Woomer resigned Wednesday. In her farewell email she wrote, "With respect for my colleagues, the people of New York, and most importantly, myself, I am honored to tender my resignation.” Hmm, not sure how much honor is involved here, but go off, I guess.

She also added a little note for her now-former boss: "Unfortunately, you never took one point of professional advice given."

Woomer has been by George’s side since he was first sworn in, and operated in lockstep with her boss up until last week. After fellow Santos staffer Vish Burra tweeted sexually threatening comments shortly after his boss’ arraignment at reporter Jacqueline Sweet, Woomer uncharacteristically broke from the company ethos of never backing down by telling the Daily Beast, “This kind of behavior from anyone is unacceptable, much less from a congressional staffer. Threats of violence of any kind will not be condoned. The tweets have been deleted and disciplinary action will be taken.”

Burra is a notorious troll who formerly worked for Steve Bannon, and has attempted to act as Santos’ outspoken sidekick (though not particularly successfully.) With Woomer gone, it’s highly unlikely Burra will face any sort of discipline as his boss has a few other things on his plate. But a Twitter troll won’t keep George out of prison.

In other news

School board elections took place across New York state Tuesday, and the results on Long Island weren’t encouraging for Santos allies. In Jericho, a district where one Santos acolyte already serves on the board, another vying for a seat for a second time came up short. And in Great Neck, despite an effort to sabotage the vote by a right wing operative sharing a video of a student performing in drag with the Congressman, the incumbent president was reelected. East Williston schools also resisted a call from the right, with a candidate who encouraged book banning and censorship losing to the incumbent.

And in other amusing Long Island political news, former Olympic gold medalist Sarah Hughes has thrown her hat in the ring to be the Democratic candidate for New York’s 4th Congressional District where Republican D’Esposito currently serves. Hughes attended undergrad at Yale and earned her JD from University of Pennsylvania, and is reportedly looking for a home in the district to raise her family. Let the ice skating puns begin.

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