George Santos: a creature of Congress, Citizens United and limitless Republican hypocrisy | Sidney Blumenthal

The New York fabulist faces expulsion but the fault for his rise lies with Trump, McCarthy, McConnell and the supreme court

It seems churlish for any member of the party of Donald Trump to single out George Santos for punishment as a liar, fraudster and fabulist. The 23 federal charges against the first-term member of Congress pale beside the Republican frontrunner's 91 felony counts and civil suits over fraud and E Jean Carroll's defamation claim, based on her allegation of rape. Republicans' faux horror at the discovery of Santos's extravagant spending of campaign funds on Botox, casino chips and OnlyFans porn belies their previous blithe tolerance of the red-dressed, gay-pride, Brazilian drag queen in their midst. Santos thrived as the symbol of the cultural contradictions of Republicanism. Did his sophisticated taste for accessories from Hermes and Ferragamo finally do him in with his anti-globalist colleagues?

The facts of Santos's false identity were pried apart gradually, beginning before he was even sworn in. Slowly, his crimes were revealed. Expose after expose - yet nothing happened. So long as Santos voted as a reliable Republican (100% Heritage Action rating), he was shielded from ritual rounds of queer bashing, much less expulsion. The narrow Republican majority in the House of Representatives required every able-bodied member who could hold up an arm. Santos was straight as a party liner.