Rep. George Santos’ constituents from New York’s third congressional district traveled to Washington, D.C., to call for his removal from Congress.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Constituents from George Santos’ congressional district gathered in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
They demanded Santos’ removal from Congress and questioned why he would not meet with them.
Santos has refused to resign until the people who voted for him in New York demand it.
A group of constituents from Rep. George Santos’ district in New York turned up at his office in Washington, D.C., demanding his removal from Congress.
The group was seen flooding the hallway outside Santos’ room in the Longworth House Office Building on Tuesday. Santos aide Vish Burra opened the door and spoke briefly with a female constituent, who handed Burra a petition demanding Santos be removed from Congress.
“We are not comfortable with the lies, and the deceit,” said the woman, who was wearing a shirt from the nonprofit organization Courage for America. “We wanna vote to expel. We want him to respond to us. We sent over 50 different meeting requests and did not get a response back.”
After Burra went back into Santos’ office and shut the door behind him, the people gathered outside started to clamor for a response.
“Where is George?” one person shouted.
“We came down from New York, and we’re not being seen,” another woman said. “We all sent emails, nobody got a response, and he’s not here to meet with us. That’s unacceptable.”
—Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) February 7, 2023
A spokesperson for Courage for America told Insider that 45 constituents from New York traveled to DC together to try to meet Santos. The trip was organized by Courage for America in collaboration with “Concerned Citizens of NY-03,” a grassroots organization that wants Santos out of office, the spokesperson said.
Courage for America also posted several videos on its Twitter page that show the group outside the Capitol building.
“@RepSantosNY03 ‘s constituents have travelled all the way to DC because they want an honest and credible person representing them in Congress, not a fraud,” the organization tweeted.
—Courage for America (@Courage4America) February 7, 2023
In another video, the constituents were seen holding up signs and chanting “Santos has got to go.” One sign read: “SCAMTOS.” This may be a reference to accusations from multiple people that Santos pocketed thousands of dollars raised for animal welfare and pet rescue initiatives.
On Tuesday, Courage for America tweeted that a letter with close to 1,500 signatures from Santos’ constituents was delivered to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The organization called for McCarthy to “do what’s right” and hold a vote to expel Santos from Congress. McCarthy did not immediately respond to the petition, and did not meet with the group.
However, a McCarthy aide separately told Reuters that the House Ethics committee has “received complaints” about Santos.
Santos has admitted to lying about going to university, being Jewish, and working at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
Santos has refused to resign from his congressional seat, saying he will only do so if the people who voted for him in New York demand it. Santos, however, did say in January that he would step down from his committee assignments on the science and small business panels.
Representatives for Santos and McCarthy did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.