WASHINGTON - The Lehigh Valley's congresswoman may end up weighing in on the future of U.S. Rep. George Santos, a New York Republican who faced calls to resign from his own party Wednesday.
The U.S. House has not finalized most committee assignments, but Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh Valley, will return as the ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee.
The committee — the only one in the House evenly split between Democrats and Republicans — is tasked with investigating and adjudicating alleged violations of rules by representatives and their offices.
- Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh Valley, will be the ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee
- A complaint was filed Tuesday against Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., due to problems with his campaign finance reports
- Nassau County Republicans have called on the embattled Santos to resign
It's possible the committee will be tasked with reviewing the case against Santos. The Long Island Republican hasn't served a week in office but is already facing legal challenges within the House, the Federal Elections Committee and foreign law enforcement.
The complaint filed with the Ethics Committee calls for an investigation of Santos' campaign finances. Two New York Democratic representatives allege Santos committed a broad range of violations, including missed filing deadlines and making false statements about properties he owns. The pair also raised suspicions about the $1 million he funneled into his campaign, noting it appeared to come from a company he owned that had estimated revenue of just $43,688. A similar complaint was raised by a nonpartisan watchdog group with the FEC on Monday.
Santos faced further turbulence at home Wednesday when the Nassau County Republican Committee called on him to resign. Santos has admitted to lying about his work history and education. Law enforcement in Brazil has revived a fraud investigation where Santos is accused of forging stolen checks to purchase more than $1,300 in goods. Santos denies committing any crimes and said he will not resign.
I was elected to serve the people of #NY03 not the party & politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living.
— George Santos (@Santos4Congress) January 11, 2023
I will NOT resign!
Wild declined through her office to comment on the allegations against Santos, saying it would be inappropriate to comment on his case or any other that could potentially appear before the committee.
In an interview last week, however, she did discuss her desire to serve on the Ethics Committee and issued concerns over House rules that could neuter its work.
"I came to this body, Congress, knowing how toxic that can be and how work shuts down because people are afraid of their shadows — because of somebody who has undue influence."Rep. Susan Wild, D-Lehigh Valley
Wild, who served as the ethics chair for the final few months of 2022, rose to prominence in the Lehigh Valley following an FBI raid of Allentown City Hall in 2015. The investigation culminated in Mayor Ed Pawlowski, his campaign manager Mike Fleck and others being convicted of pay-to-play charges. Prosecutors praised Wild, the city solicitor, for securing city documents and encouraging city employees to cooperate.
Wild said her experience serving Allentown through the criminal investigation drove her to seek a spot on the Ethics Committee. She wanted to play a role in stamping out corruption on Capitol Hill, she said.
"I came to this body, Congress, knowing how toxic that can be and how work shuts down because people are afraid of their shadows — because of somebody who has undue influence," Wild said last week.
Wild also raised concerns about proposed changes — changes that have since been approved — to how investigations take place. Direct investigations are handled by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics. Congressional employees gather evidence, present their findings and make recommendations. The Ethics Committee can either accept their findings, reject them or call for further investigations.
The OCE is overseen by four Democrats and four Republicans, but under a rules package approved Monday, three of the four Democrats will need to be replaced due to term limits. The office would also have only 30 days to hire its staff. Should any staff depart over the next two years, they could not be replaced.
Given the hiring process and the timetable to appoint replacements to the outgoing Democrats, Wild expressed fears that Republicans could make partisan hires for the OCE or intentionally slash its staffing.
"If they completely disable OCE, it would bring the Ethics Committee to a halt," she said last week. "It really causes me a lot of concern. I believe they are trying to politicize it," she said of House Republicans.
