McCarthy won’t support Santos’ reelection after indictment, but won’t ask for resignation.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy Rules Out Supporting Rep. George Santos in Reelection Bid

Freshman Lawmaker Hit with Criminal Charges for Fraud

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has announced that he will not support Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) in a potential reelection bid after the freshman lawmaker was hit with criminal charges for fraud on Wednesday.

Santos, who is about five months into his term, faces a 13-count indictment brought by Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for New York’s Eastern District. Santos faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, and one count of theft of public funds.

On Tuesday, after reports broke that Santos would be criminally indicted, McCarthy told reporters that he would let Santos continue to serve unless he is found guilty of criminal charges. McCarthy said this standard of allowing Santos to serve in Congress until he is found guilty is the same standard given to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and former Republican congressman Jeff Fortenberry when they faced federal criminal charges.

Menendez and Fortenberry Cases

Menendez faced corruption charges, but a mistrial was declared in his case in 2017 and the Department of Justice dropped the charges in 2018. Menendez currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Fortenberry was charged with facilitating illegal campaign contributions and making false statements to federal investigators. He was convicted last year in a federal court in California. McCarthy called on Fortenberry to resign after the verdict and Fortenberry left office on March 31, 2022.

“We’ll just follow the same pattern we always have,” McCarthy said Tuesday while addressing Santos’s case.

“If a person is indicted, they’re not on committees, they have the right to vote, but they have to go to trial,” McCarthy added. “Just like we had Jeff Fortenberry, he had the same ability, I removed him from committees, but he was found guilty and I told him he needed to resign. That is my policies and principles on this, and I’d follow the same pattern.”

Criminal Complaint Against Santos

The criminal complaint (pdf) alleges Santos deceived his supporters into donating to a company under the guise that the funds would be used to support his 2022 congressional campaign. Prosecutors say Santos moved money from this campaign fund over to his personal bank accounts and allegedly then used much of that money for personal expenses including purchasing designer clothing and paying off debts.

The complaint further alleges Santos obtained unemployment insurance benefits by falsely claiming that he was unemployed and eligible for benefits.

Given the severity of the charges against Santos, it is understandable why McCarthy has decided not to support his reelection bid. It remains to be seen how this case will play out in court and what the ultimate outcome will be for Santos’s political career.