- GOP Rep. George Santos of New York was expelled from Congress on Friday.
- He is the sixth consultant in US historical past to be expelled from the Home.
- 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 Home members voted 311-114 to take away the scandal-ridden GOP congressman from his seat.
That places Santos on a brief record 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.
However Santos’ removing is exclusive: He is the one congressman who was eliminated and not using a legal conviction or an affiliation with the Confederacy through the Civil Conflict.
As an alternative, Santos was eliminated after a damning Home Ethics Committee report stated there was “substantial proof” that he violated federal legal guidelines. Santos has been indicted on 23 federal prices, together with wire fraud and identification theft, which the congressman has pleaded not responsible to. A trial is about to start in September.
Throughout a debate on the Home flooring 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.
“Each member expelled within the historical past of this establishment has been convicted of crimes or accomplice turncoats responsible of treason. Neither of these apply to me. However right here we’re,” he stated.
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 20 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.
A few 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 fee and an settlement to lease workplace area to Traficant, in line with the indictment.
In July 2002, Home members voted 420-1 to kick Traficant out of Congress. The one Congress member to vote nay was Democratic Rep. Gary A. Condit of California, who on the time misplaced his major election after he was plagued with a scandal involving an extramarital affair with an intern from the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
In his last speech, Traficant stated, “I will go to jail earlier than I resign and admit to one thing I did not do,” CNN reported.
Traficant was despatched to jail in August and served 7 years earlier than his launch on September 2, 2009.
