George Santos won the election to represent a district in New York this year. It was a mild upset and helped the Republicans regain control of the House of Representatives. But now his whole world is falling apart.
A bombshell report by the New York Times is posing major questions about everything from his work history, biography, educational background, business dealings, sexuality and even his purported Jewish heritage.
The first Brazilian-American was elected to Congress — as well as the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican, Santos had claimed that his mother’s parents were Ukrainian Jews who fled from the Holocaust.
Now it appears his resume is largely fiction.
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Mr Santos had claimed to have vaulted from a New York City public college to become a “seasoned Wall Street financier and investor”.
He listed Citigroup and Goldman Sachs on his resume, but when contacted by The Times, the Wall Street firms said they had no record of him working there.
Baruch College, where he supposedly graduated in 2010, also had no record of anyone with his name and date of birth graduating that year.
He also claimed to have founded animal rescue group, Friends of Pets United, even claiming it as a tax exemption, but the Internal Revenue Service was not able to locate records of the registered charity.
Mr Santos also claimed to have a real estate portfolio spanning 13 properties. However he has not disclosed — and The Times was unable to find — any of his properties.
Santos may have run into legal problems in his parents’ native country, with Brazilian court records reportedly showing that he stole the chequebook of a man his mother was caring for and used it to make fraudulent purchases, including a pair of shoes.
He may also have lied about his Jewish heritage, according to The Forward, a Jewish publication based in New York City.
The outlet claimed Santos lied about grandparents fleeing anti-Jewish persecution during WWII.
Photo fo ex-wife
Openly gay, Mr Santos lives with his pharmacist husband and their four dogs on Long Island.
But website the Daily Beast reports Mr Santos was previously married — to a woman — which ended just 12 days before he established his first congressional campaign in 2019.
The Daily Mail identified the woman as Uadla Vieira, a native of Brazil, an unearthed a photograph of her.
Mr Santos responded to the bombshell allegations with a short statement on Twitter, promising to tell his story… next week.
“To the people of [New York’s 3rd congressional district] I have my story to tell and it will be told next week,” he wrote.
“I want to assure everyone that I will address your questions and that I remain committed to deliver the results I campaigned on; Public safety, Inflation, Education & more. Happy Holidays to all!”
His pledge to respond to the damaging allegations “next week” was widely mocked on social media.