House Ethics Committee finds 'substantial evidence' that George Santos committed crimes

The panel agreed to send the evidence to the Department of Justice.

The House Ethics Committee released the results of its investigation into Rep. George Santos on Thursday.

After months of investigation, the committee concluded that Santos "knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission," "used campaign funds for personal purposes" and "engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC."

Additionally, it claims that he engaged in "knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House."

It stated that this conduct "warrants public condemnation, is beneath the dignity of the office, and has brought severe discredit upon the House."

The Ethics panel also voted unanimously to send this "substantial evidence of potential violations of federal criminal law" to the Department of Justice. 

Santos will not run for Congress again

Shortly after learning of the decision from the Congressional Ethics Committee, Santos announced that he will not run for the House of Representatives next year.

Despite this decision, Santos maintains his story and assures that the campaign fraud accusations against him are unfounded and that he is innocent. The representative did not elaborate much more and did not offer explanations or details to the media.