While at first expelled Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) said he was done with Congress after being ousted earlier this month, he now appears to be feeling different.
Minutes after being expelled from office, Santos appeared to write off being in Congress while speaking with reporters.
“Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place,” he said at the time.
But on Tuesday, while speaking with radio host Frank Morano, Santos said his time serving the country wasn’t over.
“I’m not done with public service. I want to go back to Congress,” he said. “I’m not saying today. I’m not saying tomorrow.”
Santos continued saying that he has a “lot of things I need to take care of first,” but adding that a return was possible.
“I think we all know, but I do have hopes of trying to regain the trust of the American people and going there because I will continue to expose and root out the rot in our federal government,” Santos said.
One of the things on his to-do list is 23 criminal charges brought against him for his alleged wire fraud and theft of public records. Santos said he would not seek another term while facing the charges.
The Hill reported that in recent days, the serial liar has neared a plea deal with federal prosecutors, whom he described as “above board” and “professional.”
However, the former Rep. didn’t have the same thing to say about the House Ethics Committee, which launched an investigation into his conduct and eventually led to his ousting. He described the investigation as “a political assassination.”
“I’m not asking for people to like me,” he said. “I’m not asking for people to have sympathy. I just want people to see the facts, and those are the facts.”
In the days since leaving office, Santos has joined the video-sharing platform Cameo, where he has described himself as a “former congressional icon.” Santos makes money selling the personal videos for hundreds of dollars.