Can a convicted serial fraudster ever tell the truth? No one, of course, has an authoritative answer that binds us to belief or disbelief of a proven liar’s utterances.
Nonetheless, if disgraced former Republican Rep. George Santos of New York can tell the truth, and if, in this very specific instance, he has told the truth, then sexual depravity in the halls of Congress runs much deeper than anyone knew.
Tuesday on “The Benny Show” podcast, Santos told host Benny Johnson that the House of Representatives no longer has a high school page program because legislators “literally assaulted” those underage interns.
In one sense, of course, Santos hardly broke news. After all, according to Roll Call, the House’s page program did indeed end because of sexual misconduct.
The outlet maintained that “sexual impropriety roiled the program in the 1980s.”
“The House Ethics Committee concluded in 1983 that Republican Rep. Dan Crane of Illinois preyed on a 17-year-old female page,” the outlet reported. “The panel also called out Democratic Rep. Gerry Studds of Massachusetts, who targeted a 17-year-old boy.”
“I was really angry [it had to end] because of the bad behavior,” House page program alum Herb Harris said in 2019 at the 40-year reunion of the 1979 page class.
Moreover, the program ended way back on Aug. 8, 2011. Then-House Speaker John Boehner and then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi made the joint announcement, citing costs and advances in technology. (Wink wink.)
On the other hand, Santos did break news if his full statement has complete merit.
“Remember why the U.S. House of Representatives no longer has the page program. Only the Senate retains it,” Santos said in a clip posted to the social media platform X, “because of this behavior, because young children who would go from their schools to learn from our leaders were literally assaulted by members of Congress.”
On X, Johnson called Santos’ claim “the most disturbing thing I have ever heard on my show.”
This is the most disturbing thing I have ever heard on my show…
Former Congressman George Santos tells me that the House of Representatives had to SHUT DOWN the High School Page Program because Congressmen were sexually abusing young students.
“Remember why the U.S. House… pic.twitter.com/pds0WjrbLD
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 14, 2026
In October, President Donald Trump announced that he had commuted Santos’ 87-month prison sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. By then, Santos had exposed himself as a serial liar on multiple fronts. And the House had already voted 311-114 to expel him from Congress.
None of that makes Santos’ assertions about the House page program either true or untrue.
In fact, considering the context of the Johnson-Santos interview, the assertion rings sadly true.
For one thing, the Justice Department’s December and January releases of files on deceased sex offender and suspected sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein generated substantial public outrage and revealed that among the rich and powerful — some of them now widely suspected of sexually abusing children — there exists a depth of depravity hitherto unfathomable.
Likewise, Johnson and Santos spoke of the ongoing scandal surrounding disgraced former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California.
In recent days, multiple women have accused Swalwell of predatory sexual misconduct and, in some cases, violent rape.
Thus, whether or not Santos told the truth about young teenagers “literally assaulted” by legislators, the claim, in light of all we know, sounds plausible. And that might be the biggest possible indictment of our disgusting ruling class.
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