Is it true that Hell hath no fury like a gay man scorned? Perhaps that is unfair to George Santos, but the expelled former congressman is certainly showing no inhibition or reticence in opening rhetorical fire on four of his former New York City metropolitan area colleagues.

He says he will file ethics complaints Monday against New York Republican Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota, and New Jersey Democrat Rob Menedez.

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In the meantime, the scramble is on to fill his congressional seat. A date for the new election has to be set by Gov. Kathy Hochul within 10 days of last Friday. That election has to be held within 80 days after that. As of now, there are three strong contenders: two Democrats and one Republican.  

Tom Suozzi is a former Nassau County executive and former Democrat congressman from this district He is popular, pro-choice, and well-funded. He stepped down from the seat to run for governor. The other Democrat is former state senator Anna Kaplan, an Iranian Jew who emigrated at 13 to the United States after the Iranian Revolution made her family’s situation untenable there. She is considered more to the Left than Suozzi.

While the Nassau County Republican machine claims it is “doing a search” for a candidate, it seems to have little interest in candidates from the Queens County side of the district. It has likely already made a close-to-the-vest decision in favor of pro-life state senator Jack Martins. He has money and has won elected office. On the negative side of the ledger, he was beaten in the past by Suozzi for this same seat. Other candidates would have to make the argument that they are more electable if they want to wrestle the nomination from him.  

Biden won this district by 8 points. The strongest contest would be between Suozzi and Martins who have strong election experience. The advantage, on paper, is to Suozzi. Martins would likely win an election match with Kaplan. Either outcome would test if the formerly solid Democrat Asian vote is now up for grabs by Republicans.  

In a snap election less than 90 days away, and with traditionally super low turnout, it doesn’t take much to get elected and then immediately begin your next costly re-election campaign eight months down the road. 

With Santos having vowed not to run for re-election, it is surprising the Republicans didn’t simply run out the clock on his term since nothing other than posturing is ever accomplished in Congress during an election year. As it stands now, they risk putting an incumbent Democrat back in office for 2024.

Since the big push to expel Santos came from his New York congressional colleagues, it is hardly a surprise he is going after them. While none of the people Santos has charged have been investigated or charged with anything, this doesn’t rule out the possibility that an investigation is uncalled for. One hopes a swift congressional investigation would resolve any doubt about what his opponents believe are wild charges. The one against the lone Democrat boils down to guilt by association, which has no standing as an ethics charge.  

 On X/Twitter, Santos says he will file claims of ethics violations on Monday against:

Reps. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.): “Let’s talk about hypocrisy. Can someone ask Nicole MalioStockTips when did she become a savant in stock trading? The signature bank trades she did REEKS of insider trading much like Paul Pelosi’s every trade!” Alas, insider trading is the mother’s milk of Congress. Yes, it is how so many get rich on relatively small salaries, but,  even if true, it is not a rock anyone in Congress will want to turn over without a solid rule forbidding it. 

Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.): “The concerning questions are; is Mr Lawler engaging in laundering money from his campaign to his firm then into his own pocket? I will let the Office of Congressional Ethics be the judge of that.” Good lawyers know how to structure businesses legally. This is a fairly broad and undocumented charge at this point. It should be easy to refute by Lawler.

Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), “Did Rep Lalota no-show to his tax pay funded job while going to school and if so he can potential have stolen public funds from the taxpayers of NY? I will let the Office of Congressional Ethics determine the validity of this grave allegation raised in his local media.” Rep. LaLota has already called Santos a “sociopath,” so there is no love lost here. Likely, nothing will happen. But it is true there are no-show patronage jobs out there if you know the right people. This charge should be fairly simple to verify one way or the other.  

RELATED: Gov. Hochul Humiliates Herself With Bizarre Claim About George Santos’s Seat

and Rob Menendez (D-N.J.): “I think it’s a fair point to make sure we weed out the doubt surrounding Rep Menendez and his business associations with his father.” His father, Sen. Bob Menendez, and his current wife are currently under federal indictment for receiving $580,000  in alleged graft payments in an alleged family bribery scheme. Rob Menedez is the son of Sen. Menendez and his former wife, not the woman currently being charged. He was not charged in the scheme, so there is no evidence the son is involved in the father’s alleged crimes.