Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves a House GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill, in Washington, Jan. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
By Lisa Mascaro
The House Ethics Committee announced Thursday it is launching an investigation into embattled Republican Rep. George Santos, the New York congressman whose lies and embellishments about his resume and personal life have drawn deep scrutiny in Congress.
The bipartisan leaders of the committee announced the panel had voted unanimously to establish an investigative subcommittee to look into the allegations. The panel voted to take action on Tuesday.
The investigation appears to be far reaching. It seeks to determine “whether Representative George Santos may have: engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign” among other actions, the committee said in a statement.
The probe will review whether Santos "failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House, violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services, and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office," the statement said.
Panel leaders — Republican Rep. David Joyce of Ohio and Democratic Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania — will lead the probe, with two other lawmakers from each party.
Santos had already removed himself from his committee assignments but otherwise has refused calls from Republicans in New York to step down from office.
"The Committee notes that the mere fact of establishing an Investigative Subcommittee does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred," the statement said.
Communications systems in the Gaza Strip were down for a second day with no fuel to power the internet and phone networks, causing aid agencies to halt cross-border deliveries of humanitarian supplies even as they warned people may soon face starvation.
President Joe Biden has ended the immediate threat of a government shutdown, signing a temporary spending bill a day before much of the government was to run out of money.
A gag order that barred Donald Trump from commenting about court personnel after he disparaged a law clerk in his New York civil fraud trial was temporarily lifted Thursday by an appellate judge who raised free speech concerns.
Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled that China will send new pandas to the United States, calling them “envoys of friendship between the Chinese and American peoples.
A jury on Thursday convicted the man who broke into former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco home seeking to hold her hostage and attacked her husband with a hammer of federal charges of attempted kidnapping and assault.
