# How was George Santos' resume not an election issue? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 27, 2022, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188 "2022-12-27T23:46:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/321 "2023-01-12T20:39:06Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > It’s gonna be because he’s a criminal. And the evidence is coming in literally day by day. Republicans won’t kick any one out because they’re a criminal, or a traitor for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/322 "2023-01-12T20:57:52Z")
If he does get charged with campaign finance or other crimes, prosecutors could make any plea deal contingent on him resigning from Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/323 "2023-01-12T21:40:39Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > …Also, with all the current Republican infighting, Dwight Eisenhower’s memorable justification for keeping Nixon on the 1952 ticket is relevant: “I’d rather have him inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in”… I’ve always heard that remark attributed to LBJ as to keeping J. Edgar Hoover as FBI Director, not Eisenhower keeping Nixon on the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/324 "2023-01-12T22:24:17Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > They thought they elected George Santos, who was a college grad. They didn’t. They elected George Santos, who isn’t a college grad. But they elected George Santos. Yeah, much as we may wish it were otherwise, his district is stuck with him unless he can be removed for cause, and lying about your quals to get elected is _ **not** _ going to be seen as cause for removal under the rules. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/325 "2023-01-13T00:24:52Z")
> [@StraightTalk](#): > > They elected the guy he said he was but most definitely was not. How is that not a reason for him to be forced out? Zimmerman did, during the campaign, call out Santos for lying. While more lies have come out since the election, lying by campaigning politicians is pretty common. If you expel (the only reliable method to force out) members for lying, about their past, during the campaign, where does it end? A re-do election is scheduled for next year. I don’t see getting rid of this guy being an emergency. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/326 "2023-01-13T00:30:47Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > If he does get charged with campaign finance or other crimes, prosecutors could make any plea deal contingent on him resigning from Congress. This plan is illegal. As it should be. Prosecutors shouldn’t be able to make up punishments nowhere found in the statute. Federal plea bargains are over what the defendant will be convicted of. The punishment is then up to the judge, acting, I hope, in accordance with the law and established sentencing guidelines. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/327 "2023-01-13T00:33:52Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I’ve always heard that remark attributed to LBJ as to keeping J. Edgar Hoover as FBI Director, not Eisenhower keeping Nixon on the ticket. It could be. I read it in one of those “Book of Lists/People’s Almanac” volumes by the Wallechinsky/Wallace family. That article also quoted Nixon urging Eisenhower to make his decision: “General, the time comes when one has to s\*\*t or get off the pot”. I remember watching Nixon confirming that exchange on “60 Minutes” ca. 1990, with the expletive intact. Maybe Santos should tell that to McCarthy. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/328 "2023-01-13T00:48:08Z")
Don’t you know, Santos invented both those expressions. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/329 "2023-01-13T00:54:15Z")
Honest question: I have seen many reports of campaign finance rules being broken over the years by numerous politicians on both sides but I honestly cannot bring to mind a single one who was prosecuted for it (civil or criminal). It just never seems to go anywhere but I’ll be happy to be corrected on this. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/330 "2023-01-13T01:01:30Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > > [@flurb](#): > > > > If he does get charged with campaign finance or other crimes, prosecutors could make any plea deal contingent on him resigning from Congress. > > This plan is illegal. As it should be. Prosecutors shouldn’t be able to make up punishments nowhere found in the statute. I don’t think “illegal” is the right word. A prosecutor _could_ say “plead guilty and resign from Congress and we’ll recommend a 30-day sentence.” Nothing illegal about that. [I don’t see it happening, of course] ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/331 "2023-01-13T01:20:14Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I don’t think “illegal” is the right word. A prosecutor _could_ say “plead guilty and resign from Congress and we’ll recommend a 30-day sentence.” Nothing illegal about that. [I don’t see it happening, of course] I guess you are right that recommending a 30 day sentence, in a federal case, is legal. But [I doubt it would influence the judge](https://stahlesq.com/federal-plea-bargaining/): > [@](#): > > In the federal system, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the defense agree to the specific statute(s) or counts of the Indictment or Information the client will plead to, and often to the specific U.S. Sentencing Guidelines sections and levels that are applicable to the case. This results in an advisory Guidelines range that the parties believe are applicable to the plea. This agreement, however, is only binding on the parties to it – the government and the defense. The Court and U.S. Probation make an independent assessment and determine separately whether the plea agreement calculations are correct. If the court determines that the sentencing range is greater than agreed to, the defendant cannot withdraw their plea and opt for trial. I still think creative punishments, nowhere found in sentencing guidelines, like forced resignation from Congress, is illegal. Not in the sense that the attorneys would go to prison, but in the sense that it goes against what is legally allowed. As for the prosecutor suggesting that the defendant has to accept a punishment, like losing their place in Congress, as a condition for even getting a plea deal to the judge, I hope this is considered prosecutorial misconduct. . ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/332 "2023-01-13T01:25:06Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I still think suggesting creative punishments, nowhere found in sentencing guidelines, like forced resignation from Congress, is illegal. Not in the sense that the attorneys would go to prison, but in the sense that it goes against what is legally allowed. I found one example (state court, not federal) > Lawyers for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens contacted St. Louis prosecutors Saturday, proposing that he would resign from office if Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner would drop a felony charge against him. > > That plan came to fruition this week, with the governor’s abrupt announcement Tuesday that he would leave office by the end of the week, and Gardner dropping the computer tampering charge he faced in St. Louis. [A Plea Deal and a Resignation: What Gov. Greitens Got for Giving Up (governing.com)](https://www.governing.com/archive/tns-greitens-plea-deal.html) ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/333 "2023-01-13T02:01:04Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > This plan is illegal. As it should be. Prosecutors shouldn’t be able to make up punishments nowhere found in the statute. > **[Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon resigns as part of plea deal](https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2010/0106/Baltimore-Mayor-Sheila-Dixon-resigns-as-part-of-plea-deal)** > > According to the deal announced Wednesday, Sheila Dixon resigns, effective Feb. 4. She had been convicted last month of taking gift cards donated to the poor for personal use. > **[Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren to resign as part of plea deal](https://apnews.com/article/rochester-mayor-lovely-warren-plea-deal-46bb23dadf59aae8c244f1ec232fdfe8)** > > Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren agreed to resign shortly before her term ends as part of a deal to settle charges she violated campaign finance rules during her 2017 reelection campaign. > **[Nashville mayor resigns in felony plea deal after affair with bodyguard](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/nashville-mayor-resigns-plea-deal-after-affair-bodyguard-n854031)** > > Nashville's embattled mayor Megan Berry has agreed to resign as part of a plea deal on a felony theft charge, about a month after she admitted to an extramarital affair with her bodyguard. > **[State Sen. Virgil Smith to resign as part of plea deal](https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/wayne/2016/02/11/state-virgil-smith-court-wayne/80232392/)** > > State Sen. Virgil Smith, who is accused of assaulting his ex-wife, is pleading guilty to a felony and resigning. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/334 "2023-01-13T02:02:20Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I found one example > (state court, not federal) > > > Lawyers for Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens contacted St. Louis prosecutors Saturday, proposing that he would resign from office if Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner would drop a felony charge against him. > > . . . This is a good example, at least from your POV. I disagree with what seems to be possible in Missouri (and, I now see, Tennessee, and Maryland and Michigan and New York) and hope it couldn’t happen elsewhere. Then, I’m generally against plea bagaining. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/335 "2023-01-13T02:14:09Z")
I was able to find one example from 1982 of a U.S. Congressman resigning as a condition of a plea bargain with federal prosecutors: > **[Millionaire Congressman Fred Richmond pleaded guilty to tax and...](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/08/25/Millionaire-Congressman-Fred-Richmond-pleaded-guilty-to-tax-and/6183399096000/)** > > Millionaire Congressman Fred Richmond pleaded guilty to tax and misdemeanor drug charges in U.S. District Court Wednesday and resigned from the House of... ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/336 "2023-01-13T02:22:41Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I disagree with what seems to be possible in Missouri (and, I now see, Tennessee, and Maryland and Michigan and New York) and hope it couldn’t happen elsewhere How about “return the diamonds and we’ll knock years off your robbery sentence”? ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/337 "2023-01-13T02:26:40Z")
I’m pretty sure it could happen anywhere- after all, if the person does not want to agree to resign or not to run for office in the future or … , they can always refuse to accept the plea bargain and take their chances on a trial on the original charges without an agreed upon sentence. It’s not as though the person resigning isn’t getting any benefit from the bargain. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/338 "2023-01-13T02:35:53Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I was able to find one example from 1982 of a U.S. Congressman resigning as a condition of a plea bargain with federal prosecutors: Yes, you did, and I was guilty of wishful thinking:. > [@](#): > > Rep. Fred Richmond struck a bargain with federal prosecutors Wednesday and pleaded guilty to three charges, resigning from Congress in exchange for a promise from officials not to pursue more serious charges against him. From your link: > [@](#): > > ‘The people lost a great representative,’ Kahan said, adding that several constituents had called. ‘They were upset. They feel the loss,’ he said. I can see feeling that way myself, if someone I had voted for exchanged their office in return for the opportunity to plead guility to releatively minor charges – including, in the Richmond case, marijuana possession. Such examples show a democratic deficit in the United States. Overturning the verdict of the voters should not be part of the prosecutorial tool chest in a democracy. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/339 "2023-01-13T02:42:25Z")
I can understand that - but if Richmond is facing up to seven years on his plea, (I assume for the tax evasion) he would have likely gotten at least that much had he been convicted on the original charges. Perhaps he could have remained in office while serving a prison sentence - but he could not have done a good job of representing his constituents from prison. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188/340 "2023-01-13T02:45:38Z")
I may be overly cynical…but do Republicans (or those who would vote Republican) REALLY care? I mean seriously. Do they even care he lied so much? He’s a Republican. He really does stand for their morality and what they believe in. I am thinking he stands for them and what they want. Shit…his voters probably admire him for what he has done. Will it cost him a single voter? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-was-george-santos-resume-not-an-election-issue/977188.md?page=18)