Newly elected GOP congressman (NY) appears to have lied about ... EVERYTHING

[Brainonska511]

Seems like he broke grifting rule #1: don't bring yourself into the spotlight.

 

[Gardener]

Santos asks to step down = Santos is forced to step down

 

[trenchfoot]

I'd really be surprised if he doesn't end up in the hoosegow. He doesn't have the juice to leverage his way out of it. But I'd like to circle back once again to his financial backers and if they're going down with the knucklehead of which they assuredly deserve.

 

[interchange]

Santos asks to step down = Santos is forced to step down

That's my thought.

Alternatively, he could have realized that being part of a committee means you actually have to do something and he wanted no part of that.

 

[sandorski]

Is he even aware he does this? I think he's the inverse of the Truman Show, except the invisible Audience is his own lack of Empathy for everyone else. They/We are just as invisible to him. With all this attention, suddenly the necessary delusion has become impossible to maintain.

Dunno if that means anything. Just amazed that someone could think they could get away with such a thing.

 

[pmv]

I agree with fskimospy. The smart move for him is to flee.

Can he still serve as a Congressman if he does?

I doubt that would stop one of our MPs. In at least one case one who was convicted and sent to prison was reluctant to step down - they aren't automatically expelled unless the sentence is longer than a year. Not sure what would happen if they fled the country to avoid prosecution, but I half-suspect it would be a huge effort to get them removed as an MP - and they'd claim the cost of fleeing the country on their parliamentary expense account.

 

[Dave_5k]

Seems it's not just the restaurant bills that were all exactly $199.99 (i.e. 1 cent below the point at which it's required to keep receipts under campaign financing law).

This isn't at all new, but didn't find this mentioned before (at least a search for 199 didn't find it). Surely this merits some sort of official investigation? Implies he made a concious effort to avoid scrutiny about campaign spending, no?

Definitely ultra-amateur hour on the campaign grift ~ "everyone" knows you always whitewash the money through a 501(c) non-profit organization, which then pays all the money raised as expenses and salaries to the candidate, family and friends. (Hi Trump!)

With no limits on amount of contributions - completely evading all contribution limit requirements, and disclosure requirements are all regularly evaded to never reveal source of the funds whether domestic or international (e.g. by having them come second hand as donations via a separate non-profit org), and are by definition even tax deductible for the now anonymous donor! (assuming they are actually a US tax payer).

Making up fake donors is just... stupid.

 

[pmv]

Definitely ultra-amateur hour on the campaign grift ~ "everyone" knows you always whitewash the money through a 501(c) non-profit organization, which then pays all the money raised as expenses and salaries to the candidate, family and friends. (Hi Trump!)

With no limits on amount of contributions - completely evading all contribution limit requirements, and disclosure requirements are all regularly evaded to never reveal source of the funds whether domestic or international (e.g. by having them come second hand as donations via a separate non-profit org), and are by definition even tax deductible for the now anonymous donor! (assuming they are actually a US tax payer).

Imagine if you did all that and then disaster strikes because you actually, and quite unintentionally, win the election and hence come under unexpectedly serious scrutiny. It would be like a political remake of Mel Brooks' The Producers.

 

[HomerJS]

Can he still serve as a Congressman if he does?

I doubt that would stop one of our MPs. In at least one case one who was convicted and sent to prison was reluctant to step down - they aren't automatically expelled unless the sentence is longer than a year. Not sure what would happen if they fled the country to avoid prosecution, but I half-suspect it would be a huge effort to get them removed as an MP - and they'd claim the cost of fleeing the country on their parliamentary expense account.

With the party of lies, fraud and crime? Absolutely

 

[cytg111]

I still expect this to be some social experiment … We 100% sure Sacha Baron Cohen is not producing this? So MUCH shit, but the white supremacy hand sign incident just has that over the top Borat feel to it… Its too much to be real.

 

[woolfe9998]

Can he still serve as a Congressman if he does?

I doubt that would stop one of our MPs. In at least one case one who was convicted and sent to prison was reluctant to step down - they aren't automatically expelled unless the sentence is longer than a year. Not sure what would happen if they fled the country to avoid prosecution, but I half-suspect it would be a huge effort to get them removed as an MP - and they'd claim the cost of fleeing the country on their parliamentary expense account.

Article I, section 5 of the United States Constitution provides that "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member."

 

[woolfe9998]

Seems like he broke grifting rule #1: don't bring yourself into the spotlight.

Trump seems to have broken that rule and done fine. But as someone else said, Santos doesn't have the juice to pull it off.

 

[HomerJS]

MTG let's slip the real reason why Santos was forced off his committees.

“He just felt like that there was so much drama, really, over the situation, and especially what we’re doing to work to remove Ilhan Omar away from the Foreign Affairs Committee,” Greene stated.

It's not about the Santos wrongdoing, it's about clearing the deck to get rid of prominent Democrats. This is their same attitude when it comes to Trump. They will tolerate all manner of evil from him as long as it gets Republicans votes. "We are cool with him being racist so long as we can benefit"


‘There You Have It!’ Chris Hayes Says Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘Let the Truth Slip’ About Why Santos Really Resigned from Committees (msn.com)

 

[Brainonska511]

Trump seems to have broken that rule and done fine. But as someone else said, Santos doesn't have the juice to pull it off.

Trump hasn't been completely immune from the spotlight of his grifting.

TrumpU, a couple federal investigations, a NYS investigation into his finances and business....

He could have probably kept trucking along if the most he did was be a reality TV star instead of hopping into the political limelight.

 

[fskimospy]

Trump hasn't been completely immune from the spotlight of his grifting.

TrumpU, a couple federal investigations, a NYS investigation into his finances and business....

He could have probably kept trucking along if the most he did was be a reality TV star instead of hopping into the political limelight.

Yeah this is my thought - Trump could have spent the rest of his life being a penny ante grifter had he not won the presidency. Both him and Santos are dogs that caught the car.

 

[soundforbjt]

Yeah this is my thought - Trump could have spent the rest of his life being a penny ante grifter had he not won the presidency. Both him and Santos are dogs that caught the car.

Trump has one advantage over Santos, he was President which may save his ass from any real punishment.

 

[fskimospy]

Trump has one advantage over Santos, he was President which may save his ass from any real punishment.

I think Trump's primary advantage in avoiding punishment is his age. He stands a decent chance of drawing shit out until he dies but other than that he's screwed.

 

[pmv]

Article I, section 5 of the United States Constitution provides that "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member."

So it would still require a vote of the rest of the house (and a super-majority) to expell them, even if they had fled the country and weren't doing their job, becuase they were hiding out in some country without an extradition treaty? There are no absolute rules that lead to automatic expulsion?

Which sounds like our system, where MPs don't have an actual employment contract, so there aren't any absolute grounds, like totally failing to do the job, that would automatically lead to expulsion.

(Except, as I understand it, if they get sent to prison for a term of more than a year. Seems that expulsion is automatic in that case).

 

[Greenman]

MTG let's slip the real reason why Santos was forced off his committees.


It's not about the Santos wrongdoing, it's about clearing the deck to get rid of prominent Democrats. This is their same attitude when it comes to Trump. They will tolerate all manner of evil from him as long as it gets Republicans votes. "We are cool with him being racist so long as we can benefit"


‘There You Have It!’ Chris Hayes Says Marjorie Taylor Greene ‘Let the Truth Slip’ About Why Santos Really Resigned from Committees (msn.com)

I honestly thought this sort of thing was SOP when the house majority changed sides. Beyond that, given that MTG is dumb as a bag of hammers, is it really that surprising she said something stupid?

 

[eelw]

So it would still require a vote of the rest of the house (and a super-majority) to expell them, even if they had fled the country and weren't doing their job, becuase they were hiding out in some country without an extradition treaty? There are no absolute rules that lead to automatic expulsion?

The spineless one would definitely leave that seat vacant for rest of term instead of doing the proper thing for those constituents and expel and force a bi-election and give the seat to the Dems

 

[cytg111]

I honestly thought this sort of thing was SOP when the house majority changed sides. Beyond that, given that MTG is dumb as a bag of hammers, is it really that surprising she said something stupid?

You think she is smart enough to make that up on the spot or dumb enough to say the quiet part out loud?
Why you always going for the least offensive bamboozle when it comes to these peeps?

 

[Greenman]

You think she is smart enough to make that up on the spot or dumb enough to say the quiet part out loud?
Why you always going for the least offensive bamboozle when it comes to these peeps?

No idea what you're talking about.

 

[hal2kilo]

Trump hasn't been completely immune from the spotlight of his grifting.

TrumpU, a couple federal investigations, a NYS investigation into his finances and business....

He could have probably kept trucking along if the most he did was be a reality TV star instead of hopping into the political limelight.

Dumbest thing he's ever done, becoming president while still running his criminal frauds. He probably wished that Obama hadn't insulted his ego enough to make him have to run.

 

[Brainonska511]

Dumbest thing he's ever done, becoming president while still running his criminal frauds. He probably wished that Obama hadn't insulted his ego enough to make him have to run.

Perhaps. Perhaps he was just like many other Republican grifters: they just think everyone else is doing it, so they see no problems with their grifting. See also: every accusation is a confession.

 

[pauldun170]

the tapes

Nick LaLota sides with Mitt Romney and brands George Santos a ‘sociopath’ – live

Follow for updates on the latest lies and scandals swirling round the Republican congressman

www.independent.co.uk