US Representative-elect George Santos being probed for lying about self

US Representative-elect George Santos of New York has been placed under investigation by Long Island prosecutors after he admitted to having made false claims in his resume.

The investigation was launched by the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York on Wednesday. Prosecutors are reportedly scrutinizing Santos’ false claims about his wealth, family, education, and work history.

Santos appears to have invented his entire campaign biography, from his Jewish ancestry to his investment banking career and even his charitable contributions.

Questions intensified after The New York Times examined the narrative Santos, 34, had presented to voters during his successful campaign for a congressional district that straddles the north shore suburbs of Long Island and a sliver of Queens.

The Times uncovered records in Brazil that show Santos at the age of 19 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.

In an interview with the New York Post earlier this week, Santos apologized for his fabrications but downplayed them as “sins” over embellishing his resume, adding, “We do stupid things in life.” He also admitted to 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.

Santos denied that he had falsely described himself as a Jew, claiming he “never claimed to be Jewish” but jokingly said he was “Jew-ish” to the New York Post. He also falsely claimed that his grandparents had “survived the Holocaust” and fled Europe to escape Jewish persecution.

“I am Catholic,” he told the Post. “Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”

This is while Santos has called himself an “American Jew” and a “Latino Jew” on multiple occasions and participated in different Jewish ceremonies. The Jewish Insider in a report in November celebrated the win of the “only Jewish Republican member of New York’s House delegation.”

Santos lost his first race for Congress in 2020 but successfully ran again this year.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, a Republican, said the fabrications and inconsistencies were “nothing short of stunning.”

“The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress,” she said. “If a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”

Despite intensifying doubts about his fitness to hold federal office, Santos has said he will not step aside. He is scheduled to be sworn in next Tuesday, when the US House reconvenes. If he assumes office, he could face investigations by the House committee on ethics and the US Justice Department.

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