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WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 28: MoveOn debuts a 15-foot-tall inflatable of Rep. George Santos (R-NY) forward of a doable vote to expel Santos from Congress on Capitol Hill on November 28, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Photograph by Paul Morigi/Getty Photos for MoveOn)
By now, we’ve all heard the information that George Santos was lastly expelled from Congress on Friday. This can be a big victory for New York third District residents, who’re lastly free from a mendacity lawmaker who cheated the system to pad his personal pockets, and for everybody who values integrity and democracy on this nation.
And it’s no coincidence that simply final Tuesday, days earlier than Congress would vote to expel Santos, MoveOn flew a 15-foot George Santos inflatable balloon in entrance of the Capitol, with a tie that mentioned “stuffed with lies.” The objective of the balloon was to show grassroots opposition to George Santos in a key, high-stakes second and to carry nationwide consideration to the demand for Congress to expel him instantly. And that’s precisely what occurred.
Greater than 100 media shops talked about MoveOn’s balloon in mild of the Home vote to expel George Santos. As reported by The New York Instances, The Washington Submit, The Boston Globe, Washingtonian, Individuals journal, and extra, MoveOn capitalized on the spectacle round Santos to additional harm his repute and lift the stakes surrounding his expulsion. We even reached greater than 50 broadcast and radio stations—from Kansas to Santos’s personal yard in New York—making it clear throughout the nation that Santos has no place in Congress.
George Santos is simply the sixth Home member to ever be expelled from Congress, which required two-thirds of Congress to approve. His expulsion got here a number of weeks after the Home Ethics Committee launched a report revealing the myriad of legal guidelines he broke, together with unlawful utilization of marketing campaign donations for luxurious holidays, spas, Botox, and extra. The scathing report concluded that “Consultant Santos sought to fraudulently exploit each facet of his Home candidacy for his personal private monetary revenue.”
Constituents from Santos’s district, NY-03, have been relentlessly rallying, lobbying, and advocating for Congress to carry Santos accountable for his lies and fraud. For almost a 12 months, that they had no significant illustration in Congress.
MoveOn obtained concerned within the struggle to oust Santos early in 2023, only a few weeks after the information broke concerning the lies he informed about his faith, training, and different private info to get elected. In February, dozens of NY-03 MoveOn members and companions delivered a petition to his Lengthy Island workplace, with 100,000 signatures demanding George Santos resign or be expelled. And only a few weeks later, MoveOn deliberate a “Drive Santos Out” constituent caravan with companions that made its approach by means of the district and acquired TV, radio, and newspaper protection throughout the area to show constituent opposition.
Earlier than this most up-to-date vote, Congress had voted twice on whether or not to expel Santos from Congress and failed each instances. Even this time, after being charged with 23 indictments and the damning Home Ethics Committee report, GOP management nonetheless voted to maintain Santos in Congress.
Santos escaped accountability for much too lengthy, with safety from his MAGA colleagues, who stored him in workplace so they may maintain on to their majority and energy in Congress. However in the end, we gained. And can we preserve successful once we come collectively to demand justice and accountability for individuals who serve themselves as an alternative of the individuals they’re imagined to characterize.
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