NEW YORK REPUBLICANS CALL FOUL ON CUELLAR When then-Rep. George Santos was indicted, his New York Republican colleagues were the first to call on him to step down. More than a year later, they want to know why Democrats haven’t done the same with Rep. Henry Cuellar. “I think there's no question there's clear hypocrisy on the approach, especially when you hear leader [Hakeem] Jeffries, for instance, say he's entitled due process,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) said in an interview this week. “That's not what was afforded by Democrats to George Santos. They didn't even want an investigation by the ethics committee. They tried to expel him without any investigation.” Lawler’s take is echoed by several Republicans. They call Democrats hypocrites for repeatedly insisting that Santos resign when he faced a bevy of charges — including fraud, conspiracy and identity theft, many of which centered on how he conducted his election campaign — but not doing the same on Cuellar when he was indicted on bribery charges last month. The key differences between Santos and Cuellar: Critically, Santos wasn’t actually expelled from the House until after a damning Ethics Committee report. That bipartisan panel announced late last month it would open an investigation into Cuellar in light of his charges. Plus, Santos had already earned the reputation of a liar and a crook well before he was charged, and had little to no allies in Congress at that point. Cuellar, on the other hand, can count on a deeper well of support among House Democrats. The veteran lawmaker held a leadership position on the House Appropriations Committee and is part of the caucus’ Steering and Policy Committee. And party leaders have indicated — for now — that they’re not changing course while the legal process plays out and hope to keep his seat in Democratic hands. What Democrats won’t say: Santos’ case is a bit of a cautionary tale for the party. His expulsion opened up a battleground district, which Democrat Rep. Tom Suozzi won handily in a special election, giving him the advantage of incumbency come November. Cuellar is also representing a purple district, and Democrats are loath to give up any edge in the narrow margins of the House. Suozzi defended Democrats’ stance, saying the circumstances between the two are different — a frequent refrain from the party. “I think everybody should be held to the same standard and the situation with Santos is very unique,” Suozzi said in a brief interview. “He went through an ethics process. It was a whole report written about him. He admitted to all the wrongdoing.” Lawler said that should the Ethics Committee report – if it’s out during a reasonable timeline – reveal anything about Cuellar’s wrongdoings, his Democratic colleagues should move to expel him: “I think Democrats, in the same way they were calling on Republicans to join the effort and lead the effort against Santos, they should do that.” When asked why Republicans haven’t moved on Cuellar, Rep. Anthony D'Esposito (R-N.Y.), who also led the expulsion effort against Santos, said it’s up to Democrats. “I was always a firm believer that if we were going to be the party of holding those accountable … that we should hold our own accountable,” he said. “I mean, the Democrats should do the same as the Republicans to handle their business.” Cuellar’s press secretary had left the office as of Friday, according to a bounceback email, but another spokesperson sent a statement from the congressman later, saying he serves “at the pleasure of the people of South Texas.” “I have a strong bipartisan track record in Congress and have consistently delivered for my district,” Cuellar added. “My only focus has been, and continues to be, serving the people of South Texas.” — Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu
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