Mike Johnson Spoke to George Santos About His Options Right Around the Time Santos Accused His Colleagues

Shortly after he was elected Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson suggested to Sean Hannity that he was willing to put up with George Santos's cornucopia of lies and accused-criminal status so that Republicans could hold on to their razor-thin majority in the House. We have a four-seat majority in the House, Johnson explained. It is possible that that number may be reduced even more in the coming weeks and months, and so we'll have what may be the most razor-thin majority in the history of the Congress. We have no margin for error. And so George Santos is due due process if we're going to expel people from Congress, just because they're charged with a crime, or accused, that's a problem. (Santos has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.)

At the time Johnson said all this, there appeared to be little appetite among Republicans to throw out one of their own, as was reflected in the two failed votes to boot Santos from Congress. Yet fast-forward a few weeks following an Ethics Committee report filled with allegations that New York representative engaged in criminal activity, including spending campaign cash on Botox, Sephora, and OnlyFans and the sentiment appears to have shifted, a whole lot.

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