What to Know
- Rep.-Elect George Santos has steadfastly refused calls to resign despite multiple investigations into his campaign finances and an evolving series of lies that touch virtually all aspects of his life
- The Republican, elected to represent NY's 3rd congressional district, refused to comment to reporters late Tuesday morning as he blew by a media scrum en route to his Washington, D.C., office; he has acknowledged "embellishing" his life story and said, "We do stupid things in life"
- Federal and local prosecutors are looking into his campaign finances, while the NY attorney general is also looking into allegations -- and district attorneys in both Queens and Long Island are evaluating whether he may have broken any laws
Tuesday did not go smoothly for embattled Long Island Rep.-elect George Santos. Then again, the same could be said for his political party.
The Republican elected to represent New York's third congressional district was set to be sworn in on Tuesday despite a burgeoning spiral of controversy -- from federal and local investigations into his campaign spending to lies about his family history, resume and education and, most recently, apparently using that ceremonial oath-taking as a private fundraiser.
To start the day, he refused to comment to reporters late Tuesday morning while hurriedly blowing by a media scrum, leading them on something of a chase en route to his Washington, D.C., office.
Get Tri-state area news and weather forecasts to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York newsletters.
After racing through what appeared, at times, to be the underbelly of the Longworth Office Building, one of three constructed for the U.S. House of Representatives, he went up an escalator and he and his staff closed -- and locked -- his office door.
Later in the evening, Santos posted a press release stating that he had been sworn in by the Speaker of the House. However, no swearing-in ever took place — not for him, nor any of the newly elected House members.
Why? Because for the first time in a century, there was no Speaker of the House elected after the GOP failed three times to elect party leader Kevin McCarthy to the post. Republicans adjourned in disarray Tuesday night, ending a raucous first day in which Santos was photographed sitting by himself while in the House chambers, seeing scrolling on his phone as his party dealt with infighting. Santos cast a vote for McCarthy during all three votes.
Much like how he ran from reporters at the Capitol, the 34-year-old Santos has been running from mounting calls to resign over the last few weeks.
He has denied that he will step aside, even as heaps of alleged mistruths, partial or outright lies involving a range of subjects from his mother to education to job history, sexual orientation and now a pay-to-attend swearing-in, cloud what initially was lauded as a great victory for the openly gay Republican who flipped a Long Island House seat long held by the opposite party.
He was seen as one of the GOP's few bright spots in what was otherwise an underwhelming midterm election. But as reports began to emerge that he had lied about having Jewish ancestry, a career at top Wall Street firms and a college degree, Santos turned into a distraction to Republicans preparing to take control of the House.
While some fellow Republicans have called for ethics investigations or for Santos to resign, GOP House leaders, including McCarthy, have notably remained silent. Some lawmakers are concerned that he’s prepared to take office under a cloud of uncertainty.
"Santos represents, I believe, a grave national security risk," said Rep.-elect Pat Ryan, who represents New York's 19th congressional district. "Every member of Congress gets a top secret security clearance. This is something I held as a combat veteran as an intelligence officer. He should not have access to that classified information."
For his part, Santos apologized for his fabrications but downplayed them as “sins” over embellishing his resume, telling The New York Post that "we do stupid things in life."
Santos' financial disclosure forms show that he accrued a quick fortune despite recent financial problems and that he spent large amounts of campaign funds on travel and hotels.
Federal prosecutors in New York have started to examine Santos’ background and his financial dealings. The New York attorney general’s office said it’s looking into the allegations surrounding Santos, while local district attorneys’ offices in Queens and Long Island have also said they are reviewing whether he broke any laws.
The New York Times uncovered records in Brazil that show Santos was the subject of a criminal investigation there in 2008 over allegations that he used stolen checks to buy items at a clothing shop in the city of Niteroi, which is near Rio de Janeiro. At the time, Santos would have been 19. The Times quoted local prosecutors as saying the case was dormant because Santos had never appeared in court.
Santos has denied that he was being sought by authorities in South America.
But in a statement Tuesday, state prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro said now that Santos’ location is known they will petition to reopen the case.
Democrats in Congress are expected to pursue several avenues against Santos, including a potential complaint with the Federal Election Commission and introducing a resolution to expel him once he’s a sitting member.
Until 2020, Santos had no assets and an income of $55,000 from LinkBridge Investors, according to financial disclosure statements filed with the clerk of the House.
Two years later, in a similar filing, Santos reported income between $1 million and $5 million for each of 2022 and 2021 — all coming from the Devolder Organization, of which he had total interest. He described the entity as a “capital intro consulting company.”
Federal campaign records show that he loaned his campaign more than $700,000.
The North Shore Leader, a local newspaper on Long Island, raised questions before the election about Santos’ finances and campaign spending, a report that drew little notice at the time. In announcing it was endorsing his opponent, the newspaper cited Santos’ behavior and called him “sketchy” and “most likely just a fabulist — a fake.”
But his statements about background, his financial disclosures and campaign spending didn’t attract widespread attention until December, when The New York Times examined the narrative that Santos presented to voters during his campaign.
Since then, Santos has admitted lying about working for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, as well as having earned a degree in finance and economics from Baruch College in New York.
Beyond his resume, Santos invented a life story that has also come under question, including claims that his grandparents “fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.”
During his campaign, he referred to himself as “a proud American Jew.”
He backtracked on that claim, saying he never intended to claim Jewish heritage, which might have raised his appeal among his district’s significant ranks of Jewish voters.
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos told the Post. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”
More Politics
Back in the district he was elected to represent, a potential political rival organized a protest outside Santos’ one time campaign headquarters in Oyster Bay on Tuesday. The message was a simple one: Santos is not fit to serve in Congress.
"George Santos is not a congressman. He is a fugitive," said Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan, a Democrat. "We’ll show up to every event he has. He will have no safe harbor in this district."
While one Great Neck resident who spoke at the rally has put forth an on-line petition demanding Santos either resign or be removed from office, it appears neither is likely to happen as of now. James Sample, a constitutional law professor at Hofstra University, said the reality is that any political or legal effort to remove Santos probably won’t bear fruit before the end of his two year congressional term.
"Once he is a member of Congress, he will have the ability to run out the clock on his two year term," said Sample.
