在断然拒绝下台的呼吁后，四面楚歌的共和党众议员乔治·桑托斯周四告诉记者，“如果142人要求我辞职，我会辞职。”
他后来告诉美国广播公司新闻，他的意思是“142，000名投票给我的选民”将不得不要求他辞职，尽管根据纽约选举委员会的统计，他总共获得了145，824张选票。
桑托斯声称“电梯打断了”他，导致了错误陈述，但视频显示，他能够在电梯门关闭前说完他的句子。
桑托斯接着说，他基本上是说他不会辞职。
这位新国会议员在共和党众议员马特·盖兹主持的史蒂夫·班农“作战室”播客中进一步谈到了这个问题。随着要求他辞职的呼声越来越高，这是桑托斯第一次坐下来接受媒体采访，他整个星期都在回避记者的提问。
“这是他们的特权，”桑托斯告诉盖兹。“我来这里是为人民服务，而不是为政客和政党领袖服务，我也打算这么做。”
“我希望他们的所有意见都是好的，但我是由142，000人选举出来的。直到同样的142，000人告诉我他们不想要我——我们将在两年内找到答案，”他补充道。
纽约共和党联盟周三召开新闻发布会，批评他的竞选活动具有欺骗性，并称他是众议院的“耻辱”。但在国会山，桑托斯告诉美国广播公司新闻国会记者雷切尔·斯科特，他没有计划离开他的角色。
七名众议院共和党成员呼吁桑托斯辞职。
“我不认为桑托斯可以有效地服务，应该辞职，”来自俄亥俄州的大一新生马克斯·米勒(Max Miller)周四晚上在一份声明中说，他曾是特朗普白宫的工作人员。
众议院民主党党团领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯(Hakeem Jeffries)周四在他的首次每周新闻发布会上说，桑托斯“不适合任职”，对桑托斯采取行动的责任落在众议院共和党人身上。
“清理你的房子，你可以从乔治·桑托斯开始，”杰弗里斯说。
但麦卡锡周三拒绝加入要求桑托斯辞职的呼吁，并表示他将被安排在一些委员会中——尽管他不会被赋予任何最高职务。
“对他有指控吗?你知道，在今天的美国，在被证明有罪之前，你都是无辜的，”麦卡锡在被问及是否会对桑托斯采取任何行动时说道。
麦卡锡周四重申，桑托斯现在是共和党大会的一部分，如果确定他做错了什么，他将“承担责任”。
麦卡锡说:“我发现选民们选择了乔治·桑托斯。”“如果有顾虑，就会经过伦理。如果有什么发现，他会以那种方式处理，但他们在这个过程中有发言权。”
对他的行为展开了几项调查，两名纽约民主党人向众议院道德委员会提出了正式投诉。桑托斯坚持说他没有做任何不道德的事情。
桑托斯在11月当选为纽约第三国会选区的议员，以大约20，000票的优势击败了民主党人罗伯特·齐默尔曼。
但是在他即将宣誓就职的前几周，人们发现他的部分背景是在竞选期间捏造的。
ABC新闻发现他谎称自己曾就读于纽约市著名的霍瑞斯·曼学校和巴鲁克学院。他还声称自己在高盛和花旗集团工作，但这两家公司表示，他们没有他曾经是员工的记录。桑托斯已经承认伪造了部分简历。
周四在“作战室”的讲话中，盖兹多次暗示其他当选国会议员的议员美化了他们的简历。
盖兹还追问桑托斯竞选团队70万美元的来源，桑托斯拒绝透露这笔钱的确切来源。
“我会告诉你它不是从哪里来的——它不是来自中国、乌克兰或波斯尼亚，”桑托斯说。
当被问及他所做的工作是他在竞选中花费的资源的来源时，桑托斯回答说:“这是我努力工作的回报。”
“我一生都在工作。我过着诚实的生活，”他说。
呼吁桑托斯辞职的共和党成员包括纽约州众议员安东尼·埃斯波西托、尼克·朗沃西、布莱恩·威廉斯、尼克·拉洛塔、迈克·劳勒以及南卡罗来纳州众议员南希·梅斯和俄亥俄州众议员米勒。
Santos again rejects calls to resign, says all '142,000 voters' would need to ask him to
After flatly rejecting calls to step down, embattled Republican Rep. George Santos told reporters on Thursday, "If 142 people ask for me to resign, I'll resign."
He later told ABC News that he meant "142,000 voters who voted for me" would have to ask for him to resign, although according to the New York Board of Elections he received a total of 145,824 votes.
Santos claimed "the elevator cut" him off causing the misstatement, but video shows he was able to finish his sentence before the elevator doors closed.
Santos followed up by saying he basically meant he would not resign.
The freshman congressman addressed the matter further during an appearance on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast hosted by fellow GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz. It was the first time Santos, who has avoided questions from reporters all week, sat down for a media interview as calls for him to resign intensify.
"It's their prerogative," Santos told Gaetz. "I came here to serve the people not politicians and party leaders, and I'm going to do just that."
"I wish well all of their opinions, but I was elected by 142,000 people. Until those same 142,000 people tell me they don't want me -- we'll find out in two years," he added.
A coalition of New York Republicans held a press conference on Wednesday criticizing his campaign as deceitful and calling him a "disgrace" to the House of Representatives. But on Capitol Hill, Santos told ABC News Congressional Correspondent Rachel Scott he had no plans to leave his role.
Seven House Republican members are calling on Santos to resign.
"I do not believe Santos can effectively serve and should resign," Rep. Max Miller, a freshman from Ohio, who is a former Trump White House staffer, said in a statement Thursday night.
House Democratic Caucus leader Hakeem Jeffries, in his first weekly press conference Thursday, said Santos is "unfit to serve" and the responsibility falls on House Republicans to take action against Santos.
"Clean up your House and you can start with George Santos," Jeffries said.
But McCarthy on Wednesday declined to join calls for Santos to resign, and said he'll be placed on some committees -- though he won't be given any top assignments.
"Is there a charge against him? You know, in America today, you're innocent until proven guilty," McCarthy said when asked if he would take any action against Santos.
McCarthy on Thursday reiterated that Santos is now part of the Republican conference and if it's determined he's done anything wrong, he will be "held accountable."
"Well, what I find is the voters have elected George Santos," McCarthy said. "If there is a concern, it will go through ethics. If there is something that is found, he will be dealt with in that manner, but they have a voice in this process."
Several investigations have been launched into his conduct and an official complaint from two New York Democrats to the House Ethics Committee. Santos has maintained he's done nothing unethical.
Santos was elected in November to serve New York's 3rd Congressional District, defeating Democrat Robert Zimmermann by roughly 20,000 votes.
But in the weeks before he was due to be sworn in, it was discovered that parts of his background were fabricated during the campaign.
ABC News found he lied about attending the prestigious Horace Mann school in New York City and Baruch College. He also claimed he worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, but the two companies said they have no record he was ever an employee. Santos has admitted to falsifying parts of his resume.
Speaking on "War Room" on Thursday, Gaetz suggested on multiple times that other lawmakers elected to Congress have embellished their resumes.
Gaetz also pressed Santos on the origin of the $700,000 that Santos gave his campaign, who declined to say exactly where it came from.
"I'll tell you where it didn't come from -- it didn't come from China, Ukraine or Burisma," Santos said.
When asked about the work he did that was the origin of the resources he spent on his campaign, Santos responded: "It's the equity of my hardworking self."
"I've worked my entire life. I've lived an honest life," he said.
The GOP members calling on Santos to resign are New York Reps. Anthony D'Esposito, Nick Langworthy, Brian Williams, Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler along with Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina and Miller of Ohio
