Controversial freshman lawmaker George Santos was sworn into the 118th Congress overnight amid startling admissions he lied to voters in the run-up to a November victory.
The 34-year-old Republican now represents parts of Queens and Long Island, but for how long remains the question top of mind for many New Yorkers. It's unclear how the new class of Washington lawmakers will react, if at all, or whether Santos will hold steady in his seat through the next two years.
Santos has been facing calls to resign after admitting he lied about his family history, resume and education, all following a bombshell report from The New York Times last month.
A rally was planned for Saturday outside the district office of the newest member of congress. Organizers said they are calling for newly-elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to launch a congressional ethics investigation.
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Much like how he ran from reporters this past week at the Capitol, 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.
Santos Saga
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.’”
