Here's why McCarthy keeps punting the George Santos controversy: analyst
On CNN Tuesday, Associated Press reporter and CNN analyst Seung Min Kim outlined how House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) still can't afford to get rid of embattled, scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
Santos, who was caught lying about almost every aspect of his life on the campaign trail and faces a criminal investigation and ethics complaints over his campaign finances, was needed by McCarthy to cast a vote for his Speakership in a week-long dragged out fight between GOP leaders and a far-right faction. But, argued Kim, McCarthy could need him again — because part of the deal to get him elected Speaker involved letting any member go to the floor and call a vote to remove him from the Speakership. A vote in which he could need Santos again.
"Let's talk about another issue facing Speaker McCarthy," said anchor Jake Tapper. "Democratic lawmakers filed an ethics complaint against Santos. Santos said he did nothing unethical. Speaker McCarthy won't comment. He calls the lies to voters an 'internal matter' for those who may not be familiar with the story. George Santos misrepresented almost every single thing about his biography, and Republican members of Congress are attacking him, criticizing him, calling for him to come clean. It truly is embarrassing. Is McCarthy — now that he got Santos' vote in that election, is he going to have to maybe take a look at what is going on here?"
"I think he'll continue to punt this," said Kim. "He may need the vote again in the future. Because we have that mechanism, the vote of no confidence in place. I think what the multiple investigations, both back in New York State and down here, the complaints that have gone into Mr. Santos, that allows Republican leaders to kind of punt to the ongoing investigations and not really have to comment, despite being asked repeatedly by reporters, is he going to be seated on committees? What do you think of his actions?"
It is important to note, added Kim, that "a lot of these investigations — House Ethics take a long time."
"George Santos may not be a member of Congress by the time the investigations conclude, but I want to point out the reason that Democratic lawmakers had to directly go or decided to directly go to the House Ethics Comemittee, part of the rules package weakens the congressional ethics that performs that preliminary investigation before referred to the House Ethics Committee. So there is, in terms of policing their own, there is a weaker sort of apparatus there right now in the House."
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