Jan. 25, 2023: George Santos has $199 problems

On Tuesday, Kevin McCarthy officially booted Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee. In a letter that was short on details about the two California Democrats’ sins, the new House speaker referred to “integrity,” “honesty” and “credibility” as driving his decision. It is no surprise that reporters immediately asked McCarthy how his expulsion of the two Democrats for alleged dishonesty squares with his hands-off approach to another well-known congressman: Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.), who has lied about … well, pretty much everything … and was recently given assignments on two House committees. Our colleague Jessica Piper reports this morning on some rather unusual disbursements included in Santos’ campaign finance reports. “Santos’ congressional campaign reported dozens of transactions just cents below the threshold that would have triggered a requirement to preserve spending records — an unusual spending pattern that is now part of broader complaints about alleged financial improprieties." Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter