Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) has filed paperwork ahead of a likely House re-election campaign—despite being under multiple investigations and coming under fire for fabricating his background.
While this does not necessarily mean Santos will run for re-election it is likely he will despite repeated calls to resign—including from within his own party—demands that he has resisted.
March 14 was the deadline for filing a statement of candidacy.
“Rep. Santos’ campaign team has filed his statement of candidacy as required by the FEC,” Santos said in a statement shared with CNBC through a text from the congressman’s lawyer, Joseph Murray.
“No further comments will be offered today.”
In the statement, Santos noted he does not intend to spend his own money on his campaign.
The statement stated that three committees would be authorized to receive and expend funds on behalf of his campaign: Take Back The House 2022, which is aligned with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.); the Devolder Santos Victory Committee; and the Devolder Santos Van Duyne Victory Committee, which supported Santos’ and Rep. Beth van Duyne’s (R-Texas) congressional campaigns.
Santos, 34, has been in Congress since January. He defeated Rob Zimmerman, a Democrat, in November with 53.8 percent of the vote.
Santos has admitted lying about parts of his life story and he has denied fabricating other parts.
He falsely identified himself as Jewish, claimed he was educated at Horace Mann School and Baruch College, said he worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and touted he ran an animal charity, in addition to other falsehoods.
Santos is under federal and state investigation.
He is under indictment in Brazil on fraud charges.
Santos is also under a House Ethics Committee investigation. McCarthy has said that Santos would be expelled from Congress if the committee deems he broke the law.
“If ... he has broken the law, then we will remove him, but it’s not my role,” McCarthy said on Jan. 24. “I believe in the rule of law. A person’s innocent until proven guilty.”
McCarthy has stood by Santos, citing that the people of New York’s Third Congressional District voted him into office.
“He has a responsibility to uphold what they voted for, to work and have their voice here, but at any time if it rises to a legal level, we will deal with it then,” he said.
