Politician lies. NYT is aghast
-
Who Is Rep.-Elect George Santos? His Résumé May Be Largely Fiction.
George Santos, whose election to Congress on Long Island last month helped Republicans clinch a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, built his candidacy on the notion that he was the “full embodiment of the American dream” and was running to safeguard it for others.
His campaign biography amplified his storybook journey: He is the son of Brazilian immigrants, and the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a non-incumbent. By his account, he catapulted himself from a New York City public college to become a “seasoned Wall Street financier and investor” with a family-owned real estate portfolio of 13 properties and an animal rescue charity that saved more than 2,500 dogs and cats.
But a New York Times review of public documents and court filings from the United States and Brazil, as well as various attempts to verify claims that Mr. Santos, 34, made on the campaign trail, calls into question key parts of the résumé that he sold to voters.
Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, the marquee Wall Street firms on Mr. Santos’s campaign biography, told The Times they had no record of his ever working there. Officials at Baruch College, which Mr. Santos has said he graduated from in 2010, could find no record of anyone matching his name and date of birth graduating that year.
There was also little evidence that his animal rescue group, Friends of Pets United, was, as Mr. Santos claimed, a tax-exempt organization: The Internal Revenue Service could locate no record of a registered charity with that name.
His financial disclosure forms suggest a life of some wealth. He lent his campaign more than $700,000 during the midterm election, has donated thousands of dollars to other candidates in the last two years and reported a $750,000 salary and over $1 million in dividends from his company, the Devolder Organization.
Yet the firm, which has no public website or LinkedIn page, is something of a mystery. On a campaign website, Mr. Santos once described Devolder as his “family’s firm” that managed $80 million in assets. On his congressional financial disclosure, he described it as a capital introduction consulting company, a type of boutique firm that serves as a liaison between investment funds and deep-pocketed investors. But Mr. Santos’s disclosures did not reveal any clients, an omission three election law experts said could be problematic if such clients exist.
And while Mr. Santos has described a family fortune in real estate, he has not disclosed, nor could The Times could find, records of his properties.
Mr. Santos’s eight-point victory, in a district in northern Long Island and northeast Queens that previously favored Democrats, was considered a mild upset. He had lost decisively in the same district in 2020 to Tom Suozzi, then the Democratic incumbent, and had seemed to be too wedded to former President Donald J. Trump and his stances to flip his fortunes.
His appearance earlier this month at a gala in Manhattan attended by white nationalists and right-wing conspiracy theorists underscored his ties to Mr. Trump’s right-wing base.Too funny.
Is the guy a fraud? Could very well be.
The actual story is that the New York Times is doing the research that his opponent(s) should have done.
-
Best get a new president then.
One thing they are focusing on is a tax exempt nonprofit that doesn’t show up on the IRS website. It would only show if they paid and applied for official status. Otherwise they are assumed to be a public charity and tax exempt. I ran my charities for several years before investing in formal status.
-
George Santos Admits to Lying About College and Work History
Representative-elect George Santos admitted on Monday to misleading voters about his professional experience and educational history, confirming some of the key findings of a New York Times investigation that found he likely misrepresented his background to voters.
Mr. Santos, a Republican who was elected in November to represent parts of northern Long Island and northeast Queens, ended a week of near silence, giving interviews to two conservative-owned media outlets, The New York Post and WABC-AM radio.
Mr. Santos told The Post that even though he now admits to embellishing his résumé, it would not stop him from taking office.
“I am not a criminal,” Mr. Santos told The Post, adding he would still be an effective legislator. He told WABC radio that he still intended to be sworn in at the start of the next Congress.
Mr. Santos, through representatives, has declined multiple requests to speak with The Times or to directly address the questions raised by its reporting. -
George Santos Admits to Lying About College and Work History
Representative-elect George Santos admitted on Monday to misleading voters about his professional experience and educational history, confirming some of the key findings of a New York Times investigation that found he likely misrepresented his background to voters.
Mr. Santos, a Republican who was elected in November to represent parts of northern Long Island and northeast Queens, ended a week of near silence, giving interviews to two conservative-owned media outlets, The New York Post and WABC-AM radio.
Mr. Santos told The Post that even though he now admits to embellishing his résumé, it would not stop him from taking office.
“I am not a criminal,” Mr. Santos told The Post, adding he would still be an effective legislator. He told WABC radio that he still intended to be sworn in at the start of the next Congress.
Mr. Santos, through representatives, has declined multiple requests to speak with The Times or to directly address the questions raised by its reporting.@George-K said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
George Santos Admits to Lying About College and Work History
Representative-elect George Santos admitted on Monday to misleading voters about his professional experience and educational history, confirming some of the key findings of a New York Times investigation that found he likely misrepresented his background to voters.
...Isn't it wonderful that the NYT is there to do the hard work of holding Rep. Santos the politician accountable?
-
@George-K said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
George Santos Admits to Lying About College and Work History
Representative-elect George Santos admitted on Monday to misleading voters about his professional experience and educational history, confirming some of the key findings of a New York Times investigation that found he likely misrepresented his background to voters.
...Isn't it wonderful that the NYT is there to do the hard work of holding Rep. Santos the politician accountable?
@Axtremus said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
@George-K said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
George Santos Admits to Lying About College and Work History
Representative-elect George Santos admitted on Monday to misleading voters about his professional experience and educational history, confirming some of the key findings of a New York Times investigation that found he likely misrepresented his background to voters.
...Isn't it wonderful that the NYT is there to do the hard work of holding Rep. Santos the politician accountable?
Yes! Now when will they do Biden?
-
@Axtremus said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
@George-K said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
George Santos Admits to Lying About College and Work History
Representative-elect George Santos admitted on Monday to misleading voters about his professional experience and educational history, confirming some of the key findings of a New York Times investigation that found he likely misrepresented his background to voters.
...Isn't it wonderful that the NYT is there to do the hard work of holding Rep. Santos the politician accountable?
Yes! Now when will they do Biden?
@LuFins-Dad said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
Yes! Now when will they do Biden?
If only we had a thread about that.
-
@George-K yeah, he deserved that.
That guy should resign.
-
@George-K yeah, he deserved that.
That guy should resign.
@Doctor-Phibes said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
That guy should resign.
He won't.
If only we had a thread about his lies.
Oh, you're talking about the other guy. Sorry.
-
@George-K said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
Gabbard goes brutal on Santos.
Wow.
Damn, she’s hot.
-
@George-K said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
Gabbard goes brutal on Santos.
Wow.
Damn, she’s hot.
-
I see no reason to pillory Santos or for him to resign if we're not going to hold established pols to the same standard.
@Mik said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
I see no reason to pillory Santos or for him to resign if we're not going to hold established pols to the same standard.
I get that, and the other part of me that has given up agrees…But it would be nice if at least one group held themselves accountable.
-
Here’s the thing with Santos… Jewish is a race thing. If he does have Jewish ancestry then I have little issues with those claims.
The college and work claims just make no sense. How the hell did this guy make it this far?
-
@Mik said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
I see no reason to pillory Santos or for him to resign if we're not going to hold established pols to the same standard.
I get that, and the other part of me that has given up agrees…But it would be nice if at least one group held themselves accountable.
@LuFins-Dad said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
@Mik said in Politician lies. NYT is aghast:
I see no reason to pillory Santos or for him to resign if we're not going to hold established pols to the same standard.
I get that, and the other part of me that has given up agrees…But it would be nice if at least one group held themselves accountable.
Never bring a knife to a gunfight.
-
Well, what are the real lessons here? Surely it is not pols lie. No news there.
Could the lesson be that the lazy ass opposition did not do its homework? That's really a sin in the same vein as lying. If they did it and held back until after he was elected, well, that's even worse. It's having a plan to overturn an election if they lost.
-
Long Island prosecutors have launched an investigation into U.S. Rep.-elect George Santos of New York, after revelations surfaced that the now-embattled Republican lied about his heritage, education and professional pedigree as he campaigned for office.
But despite intensifying doubt about his fitness to hold federal office, Santos has thus far shown no signs of stepping aside — even as he has publicly admitted to a long list of lies.
WATCH: Republican Rep.-elect George Santos admits to lying about his credentials
“The numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, a Republican.
“The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress,” she said. “No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”
Santos’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
He is scheduled to be sworn in next Tuesday, when the U.S. House reconvenes. If he assumes office, he could face investigations by the House Committee on Ethics and the Justice Department.
The New York attorney general’s office has already said it is looking into some of the issues that have come to light.
The Republican has admitted to lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street pedigree and a college degree, but he has yet to address other lingering questions — including the source of what appears to be a quickly amassed fortune despite recent financial problems, including evictions and owing thousands in back rent.
Some fellow Republicans had called for Congress and law enforcement to launch inquiries.
Fellow Long Island Republican, Rep.-elect Nick Lalota said he was troubled by the revelations.
“I believe a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee and, if necessary, law enforcement, is required,” Lalota said Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Nassau County DA’s office, Brendan Brosh, said Wednesday: “We are looking into the matter.” The scope of the investigation was not immediately clear.
"The scope was not clear..."
Okay the guy is a lying scumbag. Where's the
beefcrime?Fellow Long Island Republican, Rep.-elect Nick Lalota said he was troubled by the revelations.
“I believe a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee and, if necessary, law enforcement, is required,” Lalota said Tuesday.
Fine - let them investigate and if warranted, censure or eject him from Congress.
Democrats pounced, calling Santos a serial fabulist and demanded he voluntarily not take office.
Finally! Someone other than Republicans "pounced." Now it's time to see if someone "seizes" on the revelations!