- GOP Rep. George Santos of New York was expelled from Congress on Friday.
- He’s the sixth consultant in US historical past to be expelled from the House.
- The final congressmen who was expelled was Democratic Rep. James Traficant of Ohio in 2002.
New York Rep. George Santos was expelled from Congress on Friday after House members voted 311-114 to take away the scandal-ridden GOP congressman from his seat.
That places Santos on a brief listing of congressmen who have been additionally booted from their positions by their colleagues.
In US historical past, solely 5 representatives and 15 senators have been faraway from workplace.
But Santos’ removing is exclusive: He’s the one congressman who was eliminated with no prison conviction or an affiliation with the Confederacy through the Civil War.
Instead, Santos was eliminated after a damning House Ethics Committee report mentioned there was “substantial evidence” that he violated federal legal guidelines. Santos has been indicted on 23 federal prices, together with wire fraud and id theft, which the congressman has pleaded not responsible to. A trial is ready to start in September.
During a debate on the House ground on Thursday, Santos tried to make use of the distinctive circumstances round his removing to undermine the allegations he confronted and his colleagues’ makes an attempt to take away him.
“Every member expelled in the history of this institution has been convicted of crimes or confederate turncoats guilty of treason. Neither of those apply to me. But here we are,” he mentioned.
Santos couldn’t be reached for remark. His lawyer didn’t instantly reply to an inquiry despatched exterior of working hours.
The final time a congressman was faraway from workplace occurred greater than twenty years in the past when a consultant from Ohio was convicted of 10 prices of tax evasion, racketeering, bribery, and obstruction of justice.
James A. Traficant Jr., a Democrat serving his ninth time period on the time, was convicted of these prices in April 2002.
Some of his offenses included offering favors for native contractors who labored on Traficant’s boat and farm, and hiring an lawyer for a congressional employees place in trade for a $2,500 month-to-month cost and an settlement to lease workplace house to Traficant, in response to the indictment.
In July 2002, House members voted 420-1 to kick Traficant out of Congress. The solely Congress member to vote nay was Democratic Rep. Gary A. Condit of California, who on the time misplaced his main election after he was plagued with a scandal involving an extramarital affair with an intern from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
In his remaining speech, Traficant mentioned, “I’ll go to jail before I resign and admit to something I didn’t do,” CNN reported.
Traficant was despatched to jail in August and served 7 years earlier than his launch on September 2, 2009.