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While most Americans took a break from politics over the Christmas holiday, disgraced former U.S. congressman George Santos was leaning into his new role as one of Washington, D.C.’s leading gossipmongers.
Santos, 36, served eleven months representing New York’s third district prior to being expelled from the House on December 1, 2023 – the first person ever given the boot prior to being convicted of a crime (and the first Republican ever kicked out of the chamber).
Earlier this year, Santos pleaded guilty in federal court to identity theft and wire fraud. Aside from bashing his former colleagues, what has he been up to since then? Spilling the tea, as the reality television aficionados call it…
On Christmas Eve (December 24, 2024), Santos published a provocative blind item on his social media pages referring to an alleged affair involving a member of congress and their chief of staff.
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“Over the last twelve hours, I’ve received calls from current members of congress, former members of congress… media personalities and reporters asking me about who is the congressperson that is alleged to have had or is having an affair with their chief of staff,” Santos wrote on X. “Well, I am willing to say the following for now: The member in question is a female.”
Speculation quickly turned to South Carolina’s Nancy Mace, with several Palmetto politicos contacting our media outlet to suggest the rumor was, in fact, tied to the second-term lawmaker from Daniel Island, S.C.
Is it, though?
Mace has been dominating headlines in the aftermath of the 2024 election, leading the fight in Washington, D.C. against the trans agenda – and receiving significant blowback on account of her efforts. She’s also made news as it relates to allegations of domestic violence purportedly linked to her former fiancée.
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Merry Christmas Eve Eve!#HoldTheLine pic.twitter.com/x66PF7j6xw
— Nancy Mace (@NancyMace) December 24, 2024
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Last week, Mace was at the center of an ugly GOP spat over the passage of the latest “Republican” spending resolution – a measure she opposed (in keeping with her longstanding record of fiscal conservatism). Amidst that drama, one of her former strategists took to social media to excoriate her “for her constant egotistical bullshit and drama.”
The intrigue is all-the-more pertinent to Palmetto State residents seeing as Mace is one of the leading candidates for governor of South Carolina in 2026.
So… was Mace the member of congress to whom Santos was referring? Numerous media outlets – including FITS – lit up Mace’s office this week in the hopes of getting an answer to that question. Then, on Friday (December 27, 2024), the following open-ended missive dropped.
“You do not want to be the next George Stephanopoulos,” Mace wrote on X, referring to her March interview with the ABC News host in which he claimed Donald Trump had been found “liable for rape.”
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RELATED | GOP DIVISION, DYSFUNCTION ON DISPLAY
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Stephanopoulous’ comment resulted in Trump securing a $15 million settlement from the network.
“Everyone is on notice,” Mace added. “If you print or speak any defamatory information about me, be prepared to hire a brave lawyer and defend yourself in court. I will no longer stand idly by and be falsely attacked by anyone anymore. We’ve seen what happens when people talk about others with a reckless disregard for the truth. My New Year’s resolution: no one gets away with f***ing with me anymore.”
While there’s been no official comment from Mace’s office regarding the Santos rumor, sources close to the congresswoman told FITSNews any allegation to that effect was “categorically and demonstrably false,” “defamatory” and would be greeted with legal action.
Meanwhile, Santos is reportedly hinting to D.C. insiders that the congresswoman in question is a Democrat – and that the story is expected to hit the national media early next week.
Needless to say, keep it tuned to FITSNews for the latest on this drama as 2024 appears to be closing with quite the bang… literally.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
Always interesting dialog.
Well it was a good guess… we pretty much knew it wasn’t Nancy Pelosi. But then Nancy did just break her hip “falling down some stairs”.
I recall reading that Nancy Mace’s father was the primary source of start-up for FITSNEWS. Maybe I’m mistaken?
While every other news outlet agrees the ABC settlement hurts free press and free speech,
it appears FITS sees it differently.
If another politician had stated (regarding a rumor in which THEY WERE NOT MENTIONED) that “any allegation to that effect was ‘categorically and demonstrably false,’ ‘defamatory’ and would be greeted with legal action,” surely FITS would have called out the threat of vexatious litigation for what it was, an improper, unethical abuse of authority and abuse of the legal system in general.
Ginger Dunn
Freedom of speech does not include defamation- as ABC found out. Hope more are called out.
Denial and debunking are not the same thing. Debunking involves providing proof something is not true. Saying something is not true and threatening to sue people for repeating it is only debunking in Trump speak and the MAGA cult.