Dave Goldiner | New York Daily News
Rep. George Santos Thursday said he wouldn’t run for reelection after he was slammed by the House ethics committee in a damning report that has sparked a new effort to expel him from Congress.
Even as he called the explosive report a “smear” and insisted he won’t resign, the scandal-tarred Republican said he would not run in 2024 for a second term representing the Democratic-leaning Long Island district.
“Rep. Santos’s conduct warrants public condemnation, is beneath the dignity of the office and has brought severe disrepute on the House,” said the report that was backed unanimously by the bipartisan panel.
The report into the Long Island Republican, which came after a six-month probe by his fellow lawmakers, accuses Santos of shamelessly using his congressional campaign as a personal piggy bank.
“At nearly every opportunity, [Santos] placed his desire for private gain above his duty to uphold the Constitution, federal law, and ethical principles,” the report says. “Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.”
The report makes no recommendation about any punishment for Santos, and the committee’s leaders said making such a recommendation would have delayed the report for several months.
The panel said it plans to share the information gathered in its probe with federal prosecutors, who could file even more charges against Santos.
Santos is awaiting a federal criminal trial on fraud and campaign finance charges but has proclaimed his innocence.
He has rejected widespread calls for him to resign the seat spanning the North Shore and a slice of eastern Queens.
Santos made headlines by scoring a huge upset win in the midterm elections last November. But he quickly…
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