Turning The Ballot Box Against Republicans

"I grew up watching Sound of Music and Cabaret, so I really expected the rise of fascism to have more show tunes."

ashington — The House Ethics Committee released a long-awaited report on its investigation into embattled Rep. George Santos on Thursday, finding that there was "substantial evidence" the congressman violated federal law and engaged in a "complex web" of illegal activity involving his finances.

The committee said in a statement announcing the release of its findings that the investigative subcommittee tasked with examining allegations of misconduct by Santos "unanimously concluded that there was substantial evidence" that he knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), used campaign funds for personal purposes, engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with a Florida-based entity he controlled, and engaged in "knowing and willful" violations of federal ethics law related to financial disclosure statements filed with the House.

The full ethics panel unanimously voted to refer the evidence of Santos' alleged violations to the Justice Department, it said.

Cheney’s new book blasts GOP as ‘enablers and collaborators’ of Trump,
whom one member called ‘Orange Jesus’

The book, “Oath and Honor,” which was obtained exclusively by CNN ahead of its Dec. 5 release, is an unflinching account of what Cheney calls the GOP’s “cowardice,” and how so many were willing to support former President Donald Trump, who she calls “the most dangerous man ever to inhabit the Oval Office.”

Cheney delivers a particularly devastating takedown of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who she says told her that Trump knew he’d lost the election. Cheney is also critical of McCarthy’s successor, House Speaker Mike Johnson, who “appeared especially susceptible to flattery from Trump and aspired to being anywhere in Trump’s orbit,” she writes.

Throughout “Oath and Honor,” Cheney describes how she saw her Republican colleagues go from condemning Trump to falling back in line and supporting his claims of election fraud.

Cheney reveals for the first time that McCarthy told her just two days after Election Day that he had talked to Trump and that Trump acknowledged he had lost the 2020 election.

“He knows it’s over,” McCarthy said, according to the book. “He needs to go through all the stages of grief.” Cheney writes that she thought to herself, those stages of grief “seemed to involve tweeting in all caps.”

When the California Republican went on Fox News that same day and said, “President Trump won this election,” Cheney writes, “McCarthy knew that what he was saying was not true.”

Cheney also exposes how other Republicans supported Trump’s election lies even when they knew better. During a GOP conference call, Cheney writes that House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan was “dismissive” of the legal process for challenging the election results and “didn’t seem to think the rules mattered.”

“The only thing that matters is winning,” Jordan said, according to Cheney.

The New York Republican, fabulist and accused fraudster George Santos has been expelled from Congress.

The vote to expel Santos, the second since his election last year, required a two-thirds majority of those present. The final tally on Friday was 311-114, with two members recorded present and eight absent.

Santos therefore becomes only the sixth member ever expelled from the US House. The first three fought for the Confederacy in the civil war. The other two were expelled after being convicted of crimes.