Lead impeachment manager for Donald Trump’s 2nd Dwelling trial, January 6 committee member, cancer survivor, and now—reproduction editor? Congressman Jamie Raskin added one other line to his prolonged resume on Friday in a tart response to embattled Fresh York Marketing consultant George Santos, who had penned a poorly written letter thanking the Maryland Democrat for voting against kicking him out of the Dwelling of Representatives.
Santos’s letter came two days after most Republicans and 31 Democrats voted against a resolution led by five of Santos’s fellow first-term Fresh York Republicans who had been anxious to distance themselves from their disgraced colleague. The 179-213 tally fell a long way below the two-thirds majority important to expel a Dwelling member.
“I am writing to explicit my gratitude to you for standing as much as the principals of due process and the presumption of innocence until proven responsible,” Santos wrote. In reproduction edits handwritten on his reproduction of the letter and later reported by Politico, Raskin cheekily let Santos know that “principals” would possibly maybe perchance perchance additionally peaceful had been “principles.”
“Dear Congressman Santos, I savor your yelp and finest wish somebody had proofread it first,” Raskin wrote. “Interval in-between, which you would possibly maybe perchance presumably additionally peaceful reveal regret to the participants of Fresh York for all of your lies and deceit. I know you establish on to beget concept which you would possibly maybe perchance presumably additionally accumulate away with it all within the occasion of Trump, however in fact resilient.” The Maryland consultant ended the letter with a “P.S.”: “It’s not shameful to resign.”
Santos currently faces 23 federal charges, 10 of which came in a superseding indictment filed in early October. He has pleaded not responsible to all of the costs, which accuse him of mendacity about his wealth, illegally receiving unemployment benefits, and misusing campaign contributions, amongst diverse illegal acts. His trial is scheduled for September 2024, appropriate sooner than the election to set up whether or not the GOP can shield onto its razor-slim Dwelling majority.
A Dwelling Ethics Committee is additionally currently making an try into Santos, and has reportedly already been in touch with 40 witnesses, examined more than 170,000 pages of documents, and accredited 37 subpoenas. The committee is slated to say its subsequent steps later this month.
Raskin, a constitutional legislation professor, has argued that Santos would possibly maybe perchance perchance additionally peaceful beget the chance to strive against thru his criminal trial and Dwelling ethics investigation. “I’m a Structure man,” he informed Axios of his vote to not expel. “If and when Santos is convicted of these severe criminal offenses or ethics charges, I will completely vote to expel. Till then, it’s a in fact volatile side highway to head down, and we must in any admire times stick by due process and the rule of thumb of legislation, as obvious as the eventual consequence seems.”
Wednesday’s resolution, if passed, would beget made Santos the sixth person ever to be expelled from the Dwelling in U.S. historic previous, three of that had been kicked out for the length of the Civil Battle. The 2 recent expulsions over the last fifty years had been individuals convicted on criminal charges.
Santos remains defiant within the face of the many investigations into his campaign of deceit. On Friday, he informed CNN’s Manu Raju that he modified into planning on running once more for Congress in 2024, and insisted that his constituents in Fresh York’s 3rd congressional district didn’t vote for him closing year in accordance to the particulars of his fabricated lifestyles. “No person knew my biography. No person opened my biography who voted for me within the campaign,” he talked about. “No person elected me because of I performed volleyball or not. No person elected me because of I graduated college or not. Other people elected me because of I talked about I’d advance here to strive against the swamp, I’d advance here to lower inflation, make more jobs, fabricate lifestyles more reasonable, and the dedication to The us.”
Santos isn’t the finest Republican whose statements of leisurely would possibly maybe perchance perchance additionally beget previous a proofread. In one amongst his first fundraising emails since taking the tip Dwelling job, newly minted Speaker Mike Johnson vowed to “refuse to attain participants over progress,” sparking jokes from his Democratic counterparts. “Dwelling Democrats will proceed to attain participants over politics,” Dwelling Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries talked about Friday on X, formerly Twitter. “Why is that an anguish for our Republican colleagues?”
