New York Rep. George Santos, who is currently facing a potential expulsion from Congress, filed a privileged resolution to expel fellow New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman for pulling a fire alarm during a House vote in September.
While delivering remarks in Congress today, Santos stressed that Bowman took a plea deal on a misdemeanor count of falsely pulling the fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building prior to the House's vote on a continuing resolution to keep the government funded.
"Let's talk about consistency," Santos told reporters outside the Capitol on Thursday prior to introducing his motion to expel Bowman. "We have a member that, earlier this year, took a plea deal to obstructing a congressional hearing."
Santos noted Bowman took the plea deal after admitting to pulling the fire alarm in September.
"A fire alarm which obstructed and delayed an official hearing, and proceeding on the House floor," he continued. "Had that been any other person ... had it been a Republican member of Congress, we all know that that person would have been ... charged with obstructing a congressional hearing."
Santos compared Bowman's crime to those imprisoned for their presence in the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, though said "Bowman gets a pass."
"That's consistency," he said of his motion to expel Bowman. "Let's hold our own accountable, but let's make sure that we do it with the precedent of the House."
The New York representative acknowledged his own potential removal from Congress and said his expulsion would be the "undoing of a lot of members of [Congress]."
"This will haunt them in the future where mere allegations are sufficient to have members removed from office when duly elected by their people in their respective states and districts," he said.
Bowman responded to Santos' motion to expel him on Thursday.
"No one in Congress, or anywhere in America, takes soon-to-be former Congressman George Santos seriously," Bowman wrote in a statement.
"This is just another meaningless stunt in his long history of cons, antics, and outright fraud," he concluded.
Santos’ integrity was called into question during and after the 2022 midterm election, in which the New York representative won his election and assisted House Republicans in securing a narrow majority over House Democrats.
The New York representative has received 23 federal charges, including aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and conspiracy, against which Santos has maintained his innocence.
According to a report filed earlier this month, Santos “engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC,” and “engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House.”
Following the release of the House Ethics Committee’s report, Santos announced he would not seek re-election in 2024.
“I will continue on my mission to serve my constituents up until I am allowed,” Santos said at the time.
Last week, Santos insisted he would not resign, though appeared to acknowledge the report’s findings were true.
Santos may become the sixth House member to be expelled from Congress in United States history.
