George Santos expelled from House over criminal charges and damning ethics report
Republican congressman George Santos has been expelled from the House of Representatives after a report found “overwhelming evidence” he misused campaign donations.
Mr Santos was ousted 311-114 in a bipartisan vote – only the sixth time a member has been kicked out of the House since it was founded in 1789.
Two-thirds of members must support the move – but an excoriating report by the House ethics committee that accused him of breaking federal law appeared to seal his fate.
The 35-year-old led his own defence on the floor of the House and said he would “not stand by quietly”.
Speaking the evening before the vote, he said: “The people of the Third District of New York sent me here. If they want me out, you’re going to have to go silence those people and go take the hard vote.”
Mr Santos argued it would set a precedent that would make expulsions more common.
Three previous cases involved disloyalty to the Union during the American Civil War, the remaining two were after politicians were convicted of federal crimes.
A congressional investigation found he charged his campaign account nearly $4,000 (£3,151) for spa treatments, including
Botox.
He also spent more than $4,000 at designer store Hermes and made “smaller purchases” from the OnlyFans site – best known for sexual content.
Protesters had been calling for Mr Santos to be expelled
As the outcome of Friday’s vote became clear, Mr Santos put his coat over his shoulders, shook hands with some members who voted against his expulsion and exited the chamber.
The House Speaker solemnly instructed a clerk to inform New York’s governor that his seat was now vacant.
Mr Santos was in his first term and had been previously feted as an exciting prospect after he flipped a district from the Democrats in November 2022.
But the committee launched a probe in March after reports he lied about having Jewish ancestry and his grandparents fleeing the Nazis, working at elite investment bank Goldman Sachs, and his college degree.
It lasted eight months and found “overwhelming evidence” of law-breaking – and Mr Santos has now admitted making up much of his biography.
Minority leader Hakeem Jeffries was one of many supporting the expulsion. Pic: AP
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The US attorney’s office indicted him in May, accusing him of cheating donors, laundering campaign funds for his own personal use, and lying to Congress.
It alleged he stole donors’ identities and used their credit cards to make tens of thousands in authorised charges.
Mr Santos has pleaded not guilty to the charges and his trial is scheduled for September 2024.
“Mr Santos is not a victim. He is a perpetrator of a massive fraud on his constituents and the American people,” said Susan Wild, the top Democrat on the ethics committee.
The last person to be kicked out of the House was Democrat James Traficant over a criminal corruption conviction in 2002.
New York state governor Kathy Hochul now has 10 days to call a special election for Mr Santos’s seat.
Two skiers have been killed during an avalanche in mountains near Salt Lake City.
The men, aged 23 and 32, were swept up in the avalanche in Utah’s Wasatch Range on Thursday morning.
A third skier was rescued and taken to hospital after digging himself out from the snow, according to Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.
The avalanche followed several days of spring snowstorms in the area.
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Craig Gordon, from the Utah Avalanche Center, said around 2.5ft (76cm) of heavy, wet snow had fallen in the area in the past three days during the snow storms, which he said had also brought very strong winds.
“With spring, avalanche conditions can change in an instant,” Mr Gordon said.
He also described the sight of the avalanche, near Lone Peak, as “very serious” and “steep” terrain.
An ambulance at the scene. Pic: Isaac Hale/The Deseret News via AP
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Lone Peak, is one of the highest peaks in the Wasatch Range, towering over Utah’s capital city.
Its steep, rugged terrain makes it a popular destination for advanced back country skiers and experienced climbers.
The sheriff’s office said the families of the two skiers had been notified of their deaths.
The deaths bring this winter’s tally of avalanche deaths in the US to at least 15 – which is less than the average of about 30 people who are killed by avalanches each year.
In January, one person was killed and another person was injured during an avalanche in Lake Tahoe.
Justin and Hailey Bieber have announced they are expecting their first child.
Hailey, the 27-year-old model, posted a video and a series of photos on Instagram showing off her baby bump.
Justin, 30, is also in the social media footage and has shared his wife’s post. It racked up over 1.8 million likes in less than an hour.
The announcement did not include a caption, with Hailey simply tagging her husband in the post.
The couple tied the knot in a secret ceremony in New York in 2018. The Instagram footage shows Hailey in a white lace dress during an apparent vow renewal held in a field.
Kylie Jenner was among the celebrities congratulating the couple in the comments of Hailey’s social media post.
The couple married in secret in 2018. Pic: BauerGriffin / MediaPunch /IPX
US reality star and entrepreneur Kim Kardashian, model Gigi Hadid and TV personality Chrissy Teigen also commented with their warm wishes.
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Hailey is the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin and niece of actors Alec, William and Daniel Baldwin, while Justin was discovered as a singer online aged 13 and went on to become a pop sensation with his hits including Baby, Love Me and Yummy.
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The Canadian superstar was forced to cancel the remaining dates of his Justice world tour last year amid his ongoing recovery from Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a condition that can cause facial paralysis.
He unexpectedly stepped on stage at Coachella last month to perform the 2020 hit single Essence, alongside Wizkid, during a set by Nigerian star Tems.
President Joe Biden has warned Israel in his toughest public comments so far that the US would stop supplying it with some weapons if Israel invades the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
If Israeli forces launch an all-out assault on the city, the last major Hamas stronghold in the besieged enclave, the US president said “we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used, that have been used”.
In an interview with CNN, Mr Biden acknowledged US weapons have been used by Israel which have killed civilians in Gaza during its seven-month offensive aimed at destroying Hamas.
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IDF launches another Rafah operation
It comes after his decision last week to pause a shipment of heavy 2,000lb bombs to Israel over concerns about a looming attack on Rafah, following public and private warnings from his administration.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres,” Mr Biden told CNN.
“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah – they haven’t gone in Rafah yet – if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem.”
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed the weapons delay earlier on Wednesday, saying the US paused “one shipment of high payload munitions”.
“We’re going to continue to do what’s necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself,” Mr Austin said.
“But that said, we are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah.”
Israel carried out military operations in Rafah earlier this week in what it described as “targeted strikes”.
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Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah. Pic: Reuters
Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in Rafah. Pic: Reuters
Mounting death toll
Nearly 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed so far in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. It does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
The war began when Hamas stormed into Israel on 7 October, killing around 1,200 people and abducting about 250 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity, according to Israeli tallies.
Palestinians flee Rafah. Pics: Reuters
US will still supply defensive systems
Mr Biden told CNN the US would continue to provide defensive systems to Israel, including for its Iron Dome defence system.
“We’re going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently,” he said.
“But it’s, it’s just wrong. We’re not going to – we’re not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.”
It comes as Mr Biden’s administration is due to deliver a formal verdict this week, the first of its kind, on whether Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid have violated international and US laws.
A decision against Israel would heap further pressure on Mr Biden to limit the flow of weapons and money to Israel’s military.
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