House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he has “real reservations” about the vote to expel Representative George Santos (R-NY).
Santos admitted to lying on his resume.
The House Ethics Committee also found Santos misspent campaign funds for personal use.
During a news conference, Johnson said, “There are people of good faith who make an argument, both pro and con, for the expulsion resolution for Santos.”
“There are people who say, you have to uphold the rule of law and allow for someone to be convicted in a criminal court before this tough penalty would be exacted on someone. That’s been the precedent so far. There are others who say, well, upholding the rule of law requires us to take this step now because some of the things that he’s alleged to have done, or the House Ethics Committee having done their job, are infractions against the House itself.”
“We’re going to allow people to vote their conscience,” Johnson added. “I think it’s the only appropriate thing we can do. We’ve not whipped the vote, and we wouldn’t. I trust that people will make that decision thoughtfully and in good faith.”
“I personally have real reservations about doing this. I’m concerned about a precedent that may be set for that.”
Santos said of the upcoming vote, “Are we to assume that one is no longer innocent until proven guilty? And they are in fact guilty until proven innocent?”
“I think we can all agree that due process matters, and that we should all be very concerned about the way we are conducting this process,” he added.
