Disgraced former Rep. George Santos announces he is suspending bid for Congress

Disgraced former Congressman George Santos announced on social media that he is suspending his campaign to return to the House of Representatives.

Santos made the announcement on his "X" account on Tuesday afternoon.

"I don’t want my run to be portrayed as reprisal against Nick Lalota… Although Nick and I don’t have the same voting record and I remain critical of his abysmal record, I don’t want to split the ticket and be responsible for handing the house to Dems…" Santos said. 

Santos was expelled from Congress in December.

He pleaded not guilty last year to 23 charges, including allegations that he duped donors and lied on his congressional financial disclosure forms.