McCarthy won’t call for Santos resignation unless convicted: ‘Innocent until proven guilty’
Reese Gorman
Video Embed
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is not calling for Rep. George Santos (R-NY) to resign following the embattled lawmaker being criminally charged by the Justice Department.
While several House Republicans continued calls for Santos to resign after CNN broke the news that Santos, who lied about much of his resume during the campaign, had been criminally charged, McCarthy did not call for his resignation and instead opted to let the justice system play out.
GEORGE SANTOS CHARGED BY JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IN FEDERAL INVESTIGATION
“In America, you’re innocent until proven guilty,” McCarthy said at a press conference.
But, if Santos is found guilty, McCarthy will call for Santos to resign. McCarthy said he was unaware of the charges against Santos until he left the White House late this afternoon.
He pointed to former Nebraska GOP Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who was indicted in 2021 and resigned from committees, and then when he was found guilty in 2022, McCarthy asked him to resign from the House, which he did.
“We’ll just follow the same pattern we always have,” McCarthy said. “If a person is indicted, they’re not on committees, they have the right to vote, but they have to go to trial.”
Santos resigned from his committee assignments in January following heavy scrutiny of his false biography and questions surrounding his campaign and personal finances.
Some of Santos’s fellow New York Republicans have called for him to resign, such as Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who said in a statement that he is reiterating his “call for Santos to resign.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
McCarthy also pointed to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), who had previously been indicted but was found not guilty and now is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The speaker did not answer a question about former President Donald Trump being found liable by a jury for sexually abusing and defaming writer E. Jean Carroll in a civil trial. Trump was ordered to pay her $5 million.