Outgoing NY House rep on George Santos: ‘I’m being succeeded by a con man’

Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D), whose New York seat was won by Rep.-elect George Santos (R) in November, said in an op-ed published on Tuesday that he was being “succeeded by a con man” amid rising controversy about Santos’s credentials.

Suozzi, who currently represents New York’s 3rd Congressional District and will be leaving Congress after he forwent reelection to run for governor, wrote in an editorial for The New York Times that Santos “must be removed by Congress or by prosecutors, because there is no indication that he will be moved by conscience to voluntarily resign.”

“Sure, some candidates say and do anything to get into office and then abuse the public trust. In Mr. Santos, we have someone who abused the public trust even before he got into office; it’s mind-boggling to think what his actions and conversations will be like in Congress on behalf of his constituents,” Suozzi wrote in the Times. “I know from my experience as a mayor of my hometown, as a county executive and as a member of Congress that you cannot get things done without building trust with your colleagues. How can Mr. Santos be trusted? How could he be effective?”

House lawmakers have urged for an investigation into the New York Republican after reporting from the Times published last month noted inconsistencies about Santos’s claims about his personal and professional history, including graduating from Baruch College in New York and working for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.

The Long Island Republican eventually admitted he had been guilty of “embellishing my resume” during an interview with the New York Post later in December, and a prosecutor in New York, who is a Republican, later announced she would be opening an investigation into Santos.

It’s unclear if Santos will resign, though many, including Suozzi, have called on him to step down. House GOP leadership has largely remained silent about the controversy given the slim Republican majority in the House and Santos’s expressed support for a Speakership vote for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).