Former Rep. George Santos took to social media on Friday night to announce that he would be filing ethics complaints against several lawmakers who had been vocal about ousting him.
On Monday, Mr. Santos vowed to lodge complaints against Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler, and Nick LaLota, all fellow New York Republicans, as well as one against Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat and the son of Sen. Bob Menendez.
The former lawmaker accused the group of various wrongdoings, including insider stock trading, misusing taxpayer money, and violating campaign finance laws. Mr. Santos himself is facing 23 federal charges for similar alleged misconduct, as well as wire fraud and money laundering.
Despite warnings from party leadership about the negative precedent it could set, lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to oust him on Friday.
Mr. Santos first targeted Mrs. Malliotakis, accusing her of engaging in “questionable stock trading” since joining the powerful House Ways and Means Committee.
He raised questions about Mrs. Malliotakis’ trading practices, suggesting they “reek” of insider trading, similar to the accusations against Paul Pelosi, the husband of Rep. Nancy Pelosi.
Mr. Santos questioned when Mrs. Malliotakis became involved in active trading and what information she was using to make trades.
He then turned his attention to Mr. Lawler, accusing him of using a company he has a stake in, Checkmate Strategies, to pay for “services related to his campaign.”
“The concerning questions are: Is Mr. Lawler engaging in laundering money from his campaign to his firm, then into his own pocket?” Mr. Santos said. “I will let the Office of Congressional Ethics be the judge of that.”
Will Kiley, a spokesperson for Mr. LaLota, responded to Mr. Santos’ accusations, stating, “George is just mad the Congressman has three actual degrees while he lied about having one,”
Mr. Santos then accused Mr. LaLota of neglecting his taxpayer-funded job on the local board of elections to attend law school while still receiving payment.
His final promised complaint was against Robert Menendez to determine what the lawmaker knew about his father’s involvement in federal charges concerning a bribery scheme in Egypt.
“I think it’s a fair point to make sure we weed out the doubt surrounding Rep. Menendez and his business associations with his father,” Mr. Santos said.
efforts to reach out to each lawmaker for comment on Mr. Santos‘ accusations.
