Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) reiterated Thursday he will not resign despite a growing chorus of calls for him to step down amid controversy, arguing the efforts to push him out of Congress are "bullying."
"If I leave, they win," Santos said during a press conference outside the Capitol. "If I leave, the bullies take place. This is bullying."
"It's theater for the cameras and theater for the microphones and theater for the American people at the expense of the American people," he added, referencing the efforts to expel him.
His comments come just one day before the House is expected to hold a vote on expelling him from the lower chamber, a move that follows the House Ethics Committee's release of a scathing report on the New York Republican earlier this month.
Declining to go into the allegations of the report, Santos instead railed against the Ethics Committee, calling its final report "slanderous" and "unprecedented."
"Nobody here has ever seen ethics reports of any other members who's been under investigation," Santos said. "But ... again changing precedent for me, it seems that it's all fair game," adding later the report is "littered in hyperbole [and] littered in opinion."
"No decent cop would bring this to a prosecutor or a [district attorney] and says here's our report, go ahead and charge," he added.
The report argued there is "substantial evidence" Santos committed serious federal crimes. The report followed a months-long investigation and stated the lawmaker "cannot be trusted."
While it stopped short of recommending formal sanctions, the committee's findings renewed calls for his expulsion.
Santos avoided expulsion twice earlier this year, though Friday's vote could have an increased chance of success. Multiple lawmakers who backed Santos in the past — along with Democrats — indicated this week they would now vote for expulsion in the wake of the damning report.
Santos reiterated his belief Thursday that the third effort to boot him will be successful and referred to a comment from New York Rep. Nick LaLota (R), a staunch critic of Santos, who said 120-150 GOP lawmakers are voting to expel.
When pressed over why he thinks the numbers have changed, the embattled lawmaker said he does not "ask people to come in my defense," adding he didn't whip the votes for the previous two votes or Friday's expected one.
"And I stay steadfast on that because I think its my battle and I don't want to drag people into the fray of this entire nonsensical operation right now," Santos said.
The New York lawmaker currently faces 23 federal charges and is accused of inflating campaign finance reports, unemployment benefit fraud and the use of campaign funds for personal purchases. The purchases ranged from Botox, trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J., and OnlyFans, a subscription-based platform primarily used for adult content.
He pleaded not guilty to these charges earlier this year and has largely denied the allegations.
"I've said this many times — I'm fighting to defend myself and to dispel each and every accusation as soon as I have the opportunity," Santos said Thursday when asked again if the accusations were true.
He also claimed arguments that he is not serving constituents are "not true."
Santos, instead of addressing the expulsion in detail, moved to force a vote on expelling Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who was charged last month with a misdemeanor for falsely pulling a fire alarm in a House office building before a key vote.
Bowman pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor and agreed to a $1,000 fine and a written apology to U.S. Capitol Police.
