Defiant Rep. George Santos doubles down against third ouster attempt

Embattled Rep. George Santos is warning his colleagues that they’re setting a dangerous precedent if they move to oust him.

Hours ahead of the expected debate over a third resolution to expel him from Congress, the freshman Republican held a combative press conference early Thursday outside the Capitol in Washington D.C., threatening to drag his fellow colleagues for what he described as hypocritical behavior.

The Queens and Long Island Republican, who faces 23 criminal charges, said he hasn’t been convicted of a crime and noted that he would join the legion of only five other House members in history who have been removed from the body.

“I will be number six in the history, the first Republican and the only one without a conviction or without being part of a war without having committed treason,” Santos told reporters.

Despite his 11-month career being marred by an ever growing list of mistruths about his personal and professional biography —along with an ongoing criminal indictment and a scathing report from a House ethics subcommittee that substantiated and added to the campaign finance and criminal violations he faces — Santos used his time with the media to make clear he was not resigning.

During the 20 minute appearance, he also issued several warnings to his colleagues about the retribution he plans to seek starting on Thursday.

One of his chief targets was Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat representing the Bronx and Westchester, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge after he was caught on camera pulling a fire alarm in a House office building. Santos said he planned to introduce a privileged resolution on Thursday to call for Bowman’s expulsion from the body, since he has been convicted of a crime.

“Had that been any other person, had that been one of the members of the media, had it been a Republican member of Congress, we all know that that person would have been charged with obstructing a congressional hearing, just like the somewhat 140…

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