GOP House oversight chairman brands George Santos a ‘bad guy’ who told ‘despicable’ lies

But James Comer does not say whether he should resign.

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) leaves the U.S. Capitol on January 12, 2023 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)

House Republican Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has harshly condemned freshman Republican Representative George Santos and his multiple fabrications.

The newly-minted chairman, a Republican from Kentucky, responded to a question from host Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday about the fact that seven House Republicans have said Mr Santos should step down.

“He's a bad guy,” Mr Comer said. “This is something that’s really bad. He’s not the first politician unfortunately to make it to Congress to lie.”

But Mr Comer pointed out that Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren lied about being Native American.

“And I could go on and on, but look, George Santos was duly elected by the people,” Mr Comer said. “He’s going to be under a strict ethics investigation, not necessarily for lying but for his campaign finance potential violations. So I think that Santos is being examined thoroughly.”

Mr Santos came under scrutiny shortly after winning his election in a Long Island district in November despite the fact that the district voted for President Joe Biden in 2020. A report by The New York Times found that he had lied about having worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup as well as having attended Baruch College, among other fabrications.

He also reportedly lied about creating a nonprofit group entitled Friends of Pets and about being Jewish. In an interview with The New York Post last month, Mr Santos said “My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry.”

“It’s his decision whether or not he should resign, it’s not my decision,” Mr Comer said. “But certainly, I don’t approve of how he made his way to Congress and I haven’t even introduced himself to him because it’s pretty despicable, the lies that he told.”

Still, Mr Comer said the only determinant as to whether he will be removed from Congress is whether he broke laws pertaining to campaign finance.

So far, Mr Santos has said he will not resign despite calls from Republicans in his district.