House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) ruled out supporting Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) in a potential reelection bid after the freshman lawmaker was hit with criminal charges for fraud on Wednesday.
Santos, who is about five months into his term, faces a 13-count indictment brought by Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for New York’s Eastern District. Santos faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, and one count of theft of public funds.
On Tuesday, after reports broke that Santos would be criminally indicted, McCarthy told reporters that he would let Santos continue to serve unless he is found guilty of criminal charges. McCarthy said this standard of allowing Santos to serve in Congress until he is found guilty is the same standard given to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and former Republican congressman Jeff Fortenberry when they faced federal criminal charges….