George Santos showed up on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to lobby for embattled former Rep. Matt Gaetz, whose nomination for attorney general in a second Trump administration was in peril when Santos showed up, due to accusations of drug use and sex trafficking.

And it was over before Santos left the Capitol.

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George Santos sobs during apology for crimes he has spent months denying
After calling the case against him a “witch hunt,” Santos is now apologizing for not doing his job “with honor.”

Like Gaetz, Santos was also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. A report from the committee last year detailing Santos’ crimes resulted in his expulsion from the House in an overwhelming vote.

How that history helps Gaetz is unclear.

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Asked who his message was for, Santos replied, “Anybody who wants to hear it.”

“No one in specific,” he added. “Everyone.”

In a brief interview on a deserted Capitol building veranda, Santos looked and sounded winded from his walk up the stairs. His Congressional pin was affixed to his lapel.

Santos offered technicalities in support of Gaetz’s confirmation.

The Florida rep’s alleged crimes are “no longer within the purview or jurisdiction of the Ethics Committee” after Gaetz resigned from his seat this week following his nomination to be AG, Santos said.

“It’s a witch hunt,” he added.

In an interview with Raw Story yesterday, Santos described the work of the Ethics Committee as “bulls**t.”

“One can make as many allegations as they want. OK, and be wrong, yeah. That’s plain and simple.”

Santos remained confident Gaetz would prevail during the interview.

“I believe he can. I believe he has the stamina to do it.”

It turns out he didn’t. Gaetz posted a message to social media saying that his nomination had become a “distraction” to Donald Trump’s transition.

“There is no time to waste on a needlessly protracted Washington scuffle, thus I’ll be withdrawing my name from consideration to serve as Attorney General,” he said.

Gaetz’s confirmation faced increasingly long odds as details of investigations by both the Ethics Committee and the Department of Justice surface.

A document prepared by federal investigators bolstering claims by women who say they were hired for sex by Gaetz was published by The New York Times on Wednesday. They show a web of payments from Gaetz and dozens of friends and associates who are said to have taken part with him in drug-fueled sex parties.

The lawyer for two women who testified before the Ethics Committee said Gaetz paid them both for sex. One of the them was underage – 17 – at the time.

In August, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft as part of a plea deal with the Justice Department. He’s scheduled for sentencing on February 7, 2025, just days after Trump is inaugurated and regains his presidential pardon power.

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