Disgraced former House member George Santos referred to a Republican lawmaker as a “woman beater” in fiery remarks exchanged ahead of the vote to expel him.
The 35-year-old called out “hypocrisy” from Ohio Representative Max Miller on Thursday, who had branded him a “crook”.
It came ahead of a vote on Friday, which ultimately saw Mr Santos expelled from the House following a damning ethics report that found he “knowingly” used his campaign committee to file false and incomplete reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
It also alleges that he used campaign donations for personal expenses, violated the Ethics in Government Act, and committed fraud using a company he co-owned.
Speaking on the House floor on Thursday, Mr Miller said: “I myself have been a victim of George Santos and as well as other members of Congress in terms of defrauding through public donations and received an ethics complaint from the FEC, which I had to spend tens of thousands to defend myself.”
George Santos is surrounded by journalists as he leaves the US Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives— (Getty Images)
“You are a crook,” Mr Miller added, addressing Mr Santos directly.
Mr Santos rose to speak, first asking that Mr Miller’s comments be stricken from the record.
He continued: “Mr Speaker, the hypocrisy. As I mentioned, my colleague wants to come up here. Call me a crook. [The] same colleague who’s accused of being a woman beater.
“Are we really going to ignore the facts that we all have pasts and we all have the media coming out against us on a daily basis?”
Mr Miller filed a defamation lawsuit against his former girlfriend and White House colleague Stephanie Grisham in 2020.
It followed the publication of a book written by Ms Grisham – a former White House Press Secretary under Donald Trump – in which she claimed a fellow member of the then-president’s staff physically abused her.
While Ms Grisham did not use Miller’s name in the book, his lawsuit acknowledged he was the boyfriend in question.
Politico reported in July 2021 that Ms Grisham and Mr Miller’s relationship ended “when he pushed her against a wall and slapped her in the face in his Washington apartment after she accused him of cheating on her.”
In recent days, Santos has accused many of his GOP colleagues of illicit behaviour and argued that if he is expelled for his allegedly illegal acts – he’s currently facing 23 federal charges – then any of them could be as well.
On Friday the US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to expel the now-former New York congressman with 105 of his Republicans joining every Democrat to remove the embattled member from office.
Mr Santos joined the ranks of five other members of Congress – all of them Democrats and three of whom were members of the Confederacy – to be expelled, which he said he considered a badge of honour.
Votes to expel members of Congress are extraordinarily rare and require a two-thirds majority of the House of Representatives. The vote came after Speaker Mike Johnson and most of the Republican leadership voted to keep him in the House of Representatives.
