Democrats demand ouster of Rep. George Santos from Congress after indictment: ‘Beyond the pale’

Democrats denounced controversial Rep. George Santos Thursday as “beyond the pale” and demanded Republican congressional leaders oust him from Congress.

A day after Santos was indicted on a string of federal criminal charges, House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries called it “untenable” to allow the Long Island lawmaker to stay in Congress.

‘It’s beyond the pale. He lied his way in to the United States House of Representatives, separate and apart from the very serious indictment that just came down,” Jeffries said.

The powerful Brooklyn Democrat said it should not be controversial to force Santos out of a position of power and responsibility.

“The guy does not belong in a separate and co-equal branch of government at the highest level here in the United States of America,” Jeffries said. “That is not an extreme position. That should be a mainstream position on the other side of the aisle, but apparently it is not.”

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), a relentless critic of Santos, compared him to former President Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump and George Santos are symptoms of a diseased Republican party that has become a safe haven for clowns, crooks, charlatans, and conspiratorial crackpots,” Torres tweeted.

Some Republicans have also called for Santos to step down, but few have called for him to be expelled and GOP leaders have ruled out taking any action until he is either convicted or pleads guilty.

Santos, who won an upset victory in a Democratic-leaning North Shore district last year, has admitted lying about much of his life story, work history and other matters.

He was hit with a 13-count indictment Wednesday and pleaded not guilty during a brief arraignment in federal court in suburban Islip.

One count in the indictment covered a previously undisclosed accusation that Santos illegally received COVID-19 unemployment assistance while he was actually working for a financial management company.

That opened up a new line of attack for Democrats who note the evenly divided Congress is expected to vote on an unemployment fraud bill Thursday, effectively handing Santos the power to make decisions on policy related to crimes he is charged with committing.

Santos also provided the margin in the 217-215 House vote to pass McCarthy’s measure to raise the debt limit in exchange for draconian spending cuts and a grab bag of other right-wing policy prescriptions.

“Perhaps that explains why my Republican colleagues have failed to take any action to remove someone who was clearly unfit to serve in the people’s House,” Jeffries said.