George Santos.Photo: Sipa via AP Images
Rep.-electGeorge Santosis under federal investigation, outlets includingThe New York TimesandCBS News report, after a number of admitted fabrications about his background have led to questions about his finances.
The news of the federal investigation into Santos' finances came just hours after the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office in New York announced Wednesday that it, too,is investigating the incoming lawmaker.
“The numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning,” Nassau District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement provided to PEOPLE.
“The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress,” she continued. “No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”
Santos, a Republican who is set to be sworn in on Jan. 3, came under fire earlier this month afterThe New York Timesreported that a large portion of his biography could not be substantiated. The outlet alleged that he misled voters about his level of education, previous jobs and family ties to the Holocaust, news that earned bipartisan condemnation in recent days for misrepresenting himself.
In an interview with theNew York Poston Monday, theincoming congressman admitted he lied aboutworking at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, as he had previously asserted, and revealed that he had also embellished his education, noting that he did not attend Baruch College or New York University.
“I didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning,” he said on Monday to thePost. “I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume. I own up to that … we do stupid things in life.”
Santos — who spoke at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual meeting last month — also denied that he had previously claimed he was Jewish.
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos told theNew York Post. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish backgroundI said I was ‘Jew-ish.'”
Until last week,Santos’ website read: “George’s grandparents fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.”
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Santos, who is the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a non-incumbent, also admitted he had been married to a woman in the past — something else that he had previously not disclosed.
And while he admitted to some earlier fabrications, some questions about Santos' past remain unanswered — including manyregarding his finances.
In 2020, when Santos launched his first run for the House, he stated in a financial disclosure that he had no assets and no earned income.
Santos has said the funds came from his company, the Devolder Organization whichThe Washington Postreports was organized just one month before the Republican declared his latest candidacy in 2021.
This week, still other questions regarding his personal history arose after old tweets offeringconflicting stories about his mother’s death arose.
source: people.com
