Mediaite: ‘It Pisses Me Off, Frankly”: NY Congressman Blasts George Santos and House Republicans for Seating Him

Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY) lashed out at fellow New York Rep. George Santos (R-NY) over his serial lying, which he said should disqualify him from office.

Appearing on Tuesday’s CNN Tonight, Ryan was asked by host Laura Coates about Santos being sworn into office on Monday. After winning the election in November, an explosive New York Times article revealed many of Santos’ claims about his life story and possibly his finances are untrue.

Santos loaned his campaign $700,000 after seemingly coming into a mysterious multimillion-dollar windfall between 2020 and 2022.

Coates asked Ryan how he feels about Santos being part of the new Republican majority in the House. He responded by suggesting the GOP should not have seated him.

Ryan replied:

When is it enough? I mean, when does lie upon lie upon lie become enough to actually grow a backbone and say, “This is deeper than gaining 218 seats in the House. This is about trust in our democracy among the American people.” And unfortunately, we just continue to see people putting power over the essence of our democracy – the democracy I risked my life to defend as an Army officer.

So it pisses me off, frankly.

“I can imagine,” Coates replied, who cited previous comments by Ryan deeming Santos a national security risk. “Why is he a direct threat to national security?”

“I think it’s really important the American people understand, when you’re elected to Congress, you essentially automatically get access to top secret national security information, a security clearance,” he replied. “That is undergirded by this idea that if the people know you and they elect you, you should be trusted, entrusted with this highly sensitive information with lives at stake.”

Ryan said he and other colleagues told Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) they cannot abide Santos’ tenure in the House because cannot be trusted.

“The problem is Santos blatantly lied to the American people,” he continued. “Yet he is going to get the same access to this highly sensitive top secret information. So, I said to the speaker – I demanded, along with other colleagues, all of whom have served in harm’s way in the military or intelligence agencies – we cannot let this stand.”

The congressman stated there is currently no way of knowing who or what Santos might be beholden to.

“Until that is sorted out and he is properly vetted, it truly is a national security risk to allow him access to this information,” Ryan said.