George Santos is telling House Republicans he is standing down from sitting on committees

Washington – Rep. George Santos told House Republicans during a closed-door meeting Tuesday morning that he would recuse himself from sitting on any committee.

Santos was recently appointed two committees – the House Small Business Committee and the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

The news comes as he faces mounting controversies over his past lies, scrutiny of his finances and investigations in the United States and Brazil.

In an exclusive interview with One America News Network (OAN), Rep. Santos expressed remorse for the lies he told on the campaign trail, saying the only thing he would change was not lying about his education, but blaming the media for hounding him and his family.

“I don’t think lying is ever justified,” Santos said. “There are no special circumstances if you are legislating for the American people right now. So what I would have done during the campaign does not reflect what is going on in the office.”

Santos said he lied about his education because he felt it was the only way to win his seat in the House of Representatives.

“It was a bad decision. Bad judgment,” he said. “I felt the need to do this because I thought that without a diploma, I would be despised and inferior to others.”

Santos emphasized that he came from humble beginnings and defended his character.

“I know a lot of people want to create this narrative that faked my way to Congress, and it’s categorically wrong,” he said. “I have worked hard. I have built my career, through experience, knowledge and self-education.”

Also read | The Saga of Representative Jorge Santos: Inside the Many Falsehoods, Exaggerations, and Embellishments

On Tuesday, reporters asked if he made the decision to walk away from the committees on his own or if he was asked to do so by the speaker.

“Nobody told me to do anything,” Santos said, “I made the decision myself which I thought was the best representation – the interest of the constituents.”

On Tuesday morning, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy confirmed that George Santos had said he would step down from the committees but indicated that if he did take the committee seats it would be on a temporary basis.

“If I fill it in he will be on a temporary basis and he will be able to get commissions back once he is acquitted,” McCarthy said.

McCarthy reiterated that the House Ethics Committee will have questions about many of these concerns and once he answers those questions, he may be able to sit on the committees.

“I think it was an opportune decision that until he could clear everything up he would come out of the committees,” McCarthy said, adding that they discussed the matter during a meeting on Monday.

McCarthy did not explicitly say whether he encouraged him to step down from the committee’s duties but told reporters, “I think we had a good discussion in the meeting” and Santos said that decision was the best way forward.

New York Republican Elise Stefanik, who endorsed the beleaguered Long Island congressman’s campaign, was at the closed meeting.

“We just got out of the conference, and George voluntarily removed himself from the committees as he went through that process,” Stefanik said.

Santos issued the following statement on Tuesday afternoon:

“With continued interest in both my personal and campaign financial investigations, I have submitted a request to Speaker McCarthy to temporarily step down from my committee duties until I am acquitted. This was a decision I take very seriously. The 118th Congress must proceed without fanfare. It is important that I focus primarily on Serving the constituents of New York’s 3rd congressional district and providing representation at the federal level without distraction.I would like to personally thank Speaker McCarthy for meeting with me to discuss the matter and allow me to take some time to properly clear my name before returning to my committees.For my constituents, I remain committed to serving the district, And present the results to both New York’s 3rd congressional district and the American people.”

The move comes as a new Siena poll revealed that 78% of Santos County voters say he should resign.

There were new revelations over the weekend of potential violations of federal law through so-called phantom donors — or making donations to people who don’t exist.

Eyewitness news Dive into Santos’ campaign files with the Federal Election Commission It found that more than $18,000 was attributed to bogus donors.

One of them was Rafael Dasilva, the name of a famous Brazilian soccer player, and Stephen Caruso, listed on West Finger Board Road in Manhattan.

This street does not exist.

District 3 resident and Nassau County legislator Josh Lavazan gathered outside the Queens County office in Santos to demand that the FEC add potential ghost donors to their investigation.

“This brazen act of campaign finance fraud basically allowed him to take money from one source, we don’t know where that source is, and bypass campaign finance rules,” Lafazan said.

Reporter Shante Lance sat down with one of the congressman’s real donors.

“I feel betrayed, my friends and a lot of people took so much of their time to publicize it in the Third District and it wouldn’t have happened without these people,” said donor David Zerr.

while, Several men described to ABC News Previous relationships with the New York congressman — some of which allegedly happened when they were still teenagers — they said became toxic due to a flood of lies Santos told to try to manipulate and get them caught.