Serial liar George Santos, a Republican congressman with repeated lies, excluded from the US Congress

It was starting to feel like a lot... The U.S. Congress on Friday impeached Republican George Santos, an elected official who has repeatedly lied and is accused of financial crimes. The House of Representatives has so far used such a sanction only five times in its history. After his election in November 2022, and following revelations by the New York Times, George Santos had to admit to having lied about whole sections of his life to embellish his resume.

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He conceded that he had never worked for the major American banks Goldman Sachs or Citigroup, nor did he hold a degree from New York University (NYU). He was also accused of exaggerating reality by presenting himself as "an American who is proud to be Jewish" and as the grandson of Holocaust survivors who fled Nazi barbarism.

New York State Congressman George Santos, 35, was also charged with defrauding his donors as well as money laundering and wire fraud. He has pleaded not guilty. "I accepted my fate. If it is God's will to keep me here I will stay, if His will is that I leave, I will leave," he told Fox News on Friday morning.

'Unworthy'

On Nov. 17, the chairman of the Republican-majority House Ethics Committee, Michael Guest, filed a motion to expel Santos, deeming him "unworthy of serving as a member" of the institution. Earlier this month, a previous motion to exclude him was defeated because it did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority of the votes of the representatives present.

But after the publication of a report by the House Ethics Committee accusing him of having "seriously discredited" the institution, many lawmakers said they were ready to change their minds. About 200 Republicans and more than 2002 Democrats voted Friday to oust him. The last member of the House of Representatives to be expelled by his peers was Ohio Democrat James Traficant, who was ousted in <> on <> counts, including bribery. The following week, he was sentenced to eight years in prison.