Rep. Jasmine Crockett.Photo:Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett sent a brief and blunt message to her Republican colleagues at the U.S. Capitol this week: If you care about crime, expel CongressmanGeorge Santos.
Crockett, a Democrat who was recently elected to represent parts of Dallas in Congress, used her 30 seconds with a microphone to argue for expelling her Republican colleague, who wasindicted on 13 criminal countslast week on charges of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and lying to the U.S. House of Representatives. Hepleaded not guiltyto all charges on May 10.
The Texas congresswoman began her speech with, “My Republican colleagues want to talk about keeping D.C. streets crime-free. They can’t even keep the halls of Congress crime-free.” She then acknowledged that she’s going to jump into her argument quickly, noting that she only had 24 seconds remaining to relay her points.
Video of Crockett’s succinct message, turning a common Republican talking point against members of the conservative party, quickly began circulating online.
In the indictment against Santos, the freshman lawmaker from New York — who came under fire within weeks of being elected for fabricating stories about his past — was accused of unemployment fraud for allegedly applying for and receiving unemployment benefits at the height of the pandemic — while he was employed and running a congressional campaign.
The fraud continued, the indictment adds, when Santos began pocketing campaign contributions to buy designer clothing and pay off his personal debts.
Rep. George Santos.Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images
Since the charges were announced, key Republican lawmakers such as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have taken a back seat in the conversation, as of yet refusing to call for his expulsion.
On Tuesday,House Democrats brought forth a resolutionto raise an expulsion vote for Santos. Though it would need bipartisan support in order to succeed, as Republicans hold a slim majority on the House, the resolution will force lawmakers to take a procedural vote on whether to move forward with the resolution or table it, putting Republicans who distrust Santos in a vulnerable position of either voting against their own party and facing possible political backlash, or voting against their conscience.
source: people.com
