The Call Is Coming From Inside The Ethics Committee

Hello, it’s the weekend. This is The Weekender ☕

The hits from the House Ethics Committee just keep on coming for Rep. George Santos (R-NY).

On Thursday, the panel released a scathing report that accused him of having “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.” TPM was all over the report, which contained scandalous allegations about Santos directing donor funds from his campaign to his personal account for spending on everything from Hermes to OnlyFans. We even talked to the Botox doctor who provided Santos with cosmetic treatments that investigators said were paid for with campaign cash. 

The Ethics Committee report was packed with bombshells, but it did not include a recommendation that Santos be expelled from the House. However, on Friday, the committee’s Republican chairman, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS), introduced an expulsion resolution. 

“The evidence uncovered in the Ethics Committee’s Investigative Subcommittee investigation is more than sufficient to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment, is expulsion,” Guest said in a statement. “So, separate from the Committee process and my role as Chairman, I have filed an expulsion resolution.”

Expulsion is exceedingly rare and requires a two thirds majority. There have been earlier resolutions calling for Santos’ ouster, but none have passed. Members — including over 30 Democrats — cited concerns about setting a precedent that one of their colleagues could be removed without trial. Newly minted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) — who has relied on Santos’ vote while dealing with a slim and ornery majority — has similarly suggested the embattled lawmaker deserves his day in court. 

Johnson’s office did not respond to a request for comment about whether he has changed his mind in the wake of the revelations in the Ethics committee report. However, support for Santos’ removal is clearly growing. 

Guest, the sponsor of the resolution, previously voted “present.” He’s not the only one who is now joining the chorus calling for Santos’ removal. 

Multiple other lawmakers who did not back the prior resolution have indicated they support the new push. There’s even more movement behind the scenes. A senior aide to a Democrat who voted against expelling Santos last time and plans to support kicking him out now explained their thinking in a conversation with TPM on Friday. The Ethics Committee report — and the way it was handled — was crucial in getting them to change their position.  

“The Ethics Committee wasn’t done yet; he hadn’t been found guilty in a court of law. … There had to be due process. Kicking out a member is fucking serious,” said the aide, who requested anonymity to candidly discuss private deliberations, adding, “What I thought the Ethics Committee did that was genius is they put out a report, but they didnt issue an opinion. That empowered members to draw their own conclusions and point to the report. … It gives everyone political cover. It keeps the perception of due process.”

For his part, Santos announced that he plans to hold a press conference on the Capitol Steps on the morning of Nov. 30. The expulsion resolution is not due to hit the House floor until after the Thanksgiving holiday, so Santos is almost certainly going to be making his appearance ahead of the vote. Santos did not respond to texts from TPM asking what he plans to announce. 

Our anonymous aide, who said they believe there are now enough votes for the expulsion resolution to pass, offered their own theory and suggested the embattled lawmaker is making an effort to leave somewhat on his own terms. 

“I assume that’s him announcing he’ll resign before he gets expelled,” the aide said. 

More on other news below. Let’s dig in. 

— Hunter Walker

Is It Treason To Help Rudy Giuliani?

In Ukraine, the answer may be yes.

Ukrainian security services brought charges this week against three Ukrainian men over a scheme that allegedly involved them taking $10 million from Russian military intelligence to spread smears about U.S. support for Ukraine. The three people charged all provided damaging information to Rudy during his attempt towards the end of Trump’s first term to dig up dirt in Ukraine; the information they peddled forms part of the basis of the Ukraine charges.

This goes to a deeper point about what Giuliani was up to in Ukraine and the catastrophic effects that his misguided adventures have had. American military, financial, and diplomatic support has effectively guaranteed Ukraine’s independence since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022; the Ukrainians are paying in blood for their freedom, but they fight with weapons we provide, and their government continues to function in part thanks to heavy-duty financial aid from the U.S. and E.U.

Allowing that to continue depends on support from Congress, and from the White House. It shouldn’t be surprising then that Russia has been trying, ever since Ukraine signaled decisively in 2014 that it was moving towards EU and NATO membership, to polarize American public opinion around Ukraine. Turning support for Ukraine into just another divisive issue caught in the gridlock between the two parties is a surefire way to kneecap more aid.

Giuliani’s dirt-digging trip in Ukraine went a long way towards achieving that with the GOP. We see it most glaringly in Trump’s ‘24 candidacy and in Congress, where MAGA members are intent on blocking any further aid, but more subtly in Democrats’ acquiescence: this is an issue, they seem to think, which can be sacrificed.

So, it’s not an accident that Ukrainian authorities accused the group which helped Rudy of trying to “damage” the country’s ties to its “strategic partner.” For the Ukrainians, that’s treason. For us, it’s just politics.

— Josh Kovensky

It Was An Oversight

If you, like I, were excited for this Thursday’s Senate Judiciary meeting (come for the Leonard Leo and Harlan Crow subpoenas, stay for the chance that in this tense time, someone’s gotta deck Ted Cruz at some point), you would have been disappointed when it was unceremoniously canceled. 

I, ever an intrepid reporter, asked why.

“Markup was canceled due to CR votes and wrap up happening last night,” a Judiciary Committee spokesperson told TPM, referring to the continuing resolution to temporarily keep the government funded. 

Translation: The meeting was canceled because the senators finished up their votes Wednesday night and could safely vamoose for a nice long holiday break.

While the American people, who mostly get one, maybe two days off for Thanksgiving, are likely very sympathetic to senators’ need for a cushy week and a half, it doesn’t exactly scream “rigorous oversight” to nix the meeting for some extra r&r. 

There are other reasons why these subpoenas will have limited effectiveness. But for all their stern letter writing and feisty floor speeches, it’s hard to feel like Senate Democrats are really putting their shoulder into this whole Supreme Court oversight thing.

— Kate Riga

Kicking The Ladder Down The Road 

Congress averted another shutdown. Huzzah. 

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) copied Kevin McCarthy’s exact playbook but averted the latter’s fate by dint of being new and the aforementioned pressing need to get home for Thanksgiving (try to strain your imagination to picture working for ten straight works, brothers and sisters). The clean continuing resolution passed with more Democratic support than Republican.
 

So Johnson got his mulligan and Congress gets to forget about this impending problem for a while.  

But trouble looms. About 93 Republicans voted against the CR this time. Some on the far right are promising similar legislative retribution to that which they unleashed during McCarthy’s tenure. The same dynamics — impossible-to-meet, far-right demands, thin margins, the ultimate necessity of recruiting Democratic help — will persist then. Johnson’s honeymoon treatment likely won’t. 

The much ballyhooed “laddered” CR will expire in late January, then early February. It’ll be high noon.

— Kate Riga

“Hey Kevin, you got any guts!?”

That’s Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) yelling at Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) after the latter supposedly elbowed the former in the House basement. It was one of many Big Boy Brawls to break out among Republicans in Congress on Tuesday as the House finally managed to pass a continuing resolution to avert a shutdown. 

I wrote about the various Republican Male Altercations in my daily evening briefing, Where Things Stand, which you can read here. 

— Nicole Lafond