President Joe Biden responded to whether Republican New York Rep. George Santos should be removed from Congress following the congressman’s arrest Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors in New York arrested and charged Santos on seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making false statements to Congress. He pleaded not guilty to the 13 charges during a Wednesday appearance in federal court.
A reporter asked Biden in White Plains, New York, whether Congress should remove Santos from office.
“Look, if I comment at all on Santos, you’re all gonna say I’m getting the Justice Department to do things. I’m not commenting on Santos,” the president responded.
“I meant by ‘Congress,’ can he be expelled by lawmakers from Congress?” the reporter reiterated. (RELATED: REPORT: Justice Department Charges Embattled Republican Lawmaker George Santos)
“That’s for Congress to decide,” Biden answered.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has remained silent on whether Congress will consider expelling the embattled congressman, but he told CNN on Tuesday that he would review the charges.
Santos lashed out at the Biden family over their alleged criminal overseas business dealings and accused the Justice Department of launching a “witch hunt” against him.
“The reality is it’s a witch hunt,” Santos told reporters outside the courthouse. “It makes no sense that in four months, four months, five months, I’m indicted. You have Joe Biden’s entire family receiving deposits…from nine family members receiving money from foreign destinations into their bank accounts. It’s been years of exposing a lot of what you here have reported on them. And yet, no investigation is launched into them.”