Did Republican Representative-elect George Santos lie about his life story?

The biography of the newly elected member of Congress George Santos looks very good. The 34-year-old son of immigrants graduated from Baruch College, a public college in New York, before working at companies like Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Santos eventually became a successful financier who started an animal rescue charity. The problem is that the biography is a complete lie, and now he may face not only political but also legal consequences for his wholesale discovery.

As revealed in the New York Times on December 19, Santos isn’t the only one who’s expanding his résumé — he’s allegedly invented out of whole cloth.

The Times found that he did not graduate from Baruch College, that he did not work for Goldman Sachs or Citigroup, that there was no record of him being a successful financier, nor that he registered with an animal rescue charity. The Times also found that he was charged with check fraud in Brazil.

Furthermore, some outlets found no evidence that Santos repeatedly claimed to be Jewish, to have Jewish heritage, or to be descended from refugees who fled the Holocaust. Santos even described himself as a “proud American Jew” in his campaign position paper.

On a media tour with friendly outlets Monday, Santos admitted to putting “a little fluff” on his resume. In other words, he admits that he never graduated from college, never worked at Goldman Sachs or Citigroup, and is not Jewish (although he claims to be “Jewish”). Santos did not lie about basic biographical information as embellishment, and he denied the Times’ report of criminal charges in Brazil. “I’m not a criminal,” he told the New York Post.

The story led to one of the stranger political scandals in American history. Members of Congress have committed assassinations in office. In fact, members of Congress have even killed other members of Congress. Even today, we’ve seen every scandal under the sun, from Anthony Weiner tweeting lewd pictures of himself, to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s infamous Facebook post about Jewish space lasers. But it’s hard to think of a precedent for a scandal like this.

Who is George Santos?

There are a few things we know about Santos. The gay son of Brazilian immigrants, he was elected in November to an open congressional seat that includes a thin slice of Queens and much of Long Island’s North Shore in Nassau County. Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman by a margin of 54 percent to 46 percent. This represents a major shift from 2020 when Biden won the district by similar margins. That year, Santos ran against incumbent Tom Suozzi in the same district and lost handily by a margin of 56 percent to 43.5 percent.

The elected representative is also an ardent supporter of Trump – so much so that he was at the Ellipse Trump rally on January 6, 2021, and repeatedly claimed to be wrong that the former president won the 2020 election.

Also, for all the lies about his resume, it’s clear that one of Santos’ companies, Harbor City Capital, has been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of being a Ponzi scheme. As for Santos’ other work, he worked as a Portuguese-speaking customer service agent for DISH Network for the past ten years.

Don’t we know?

We don’t know much. These range from basic facts about Santos’ biography to details about his relationship with Brazil’s criminal justice system, and everything in between, including where he lives.

But most importantly, we don’t know where Santos’ money came from. The representative-elect loaned his own campaign $700,000 during the 2022 cycle and claimed income of $750,000. He also listed millions of dollars in assets including an apartment in Rio De Janeiro worth up to $1 million and a seven-figure savings account. It’s a big change in fortune for someone who was evicted twice, in 2015 and 2017, for not paying rent and taken to court for non-payment of debts. Even in 2020, he reported income in only one category — compensation of more than $5,000 paid by one source — with no other assets.

Santos initially did not provide information about his finances on the media tour, other than admitting that he did not own any property. He was before claimed on Twitter is the owner of 13 properties. The deputy finally admitted in an interview with Semafor that his new wealth came from the “introduction of capital” where he helped broker transactions for the rich. Santos uses yacht sales as an example of how he makes a living, “If you’re looking for a $20 million yacht, my referral fee can be between $200,000 and $400,000.”

What is happening now?

Santos has been investigated by federal and local prosecutors while New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office has “looked at some of the issues that have come out.”

Dan Goldman, a fellow elected official from New York and a former prosecutor, has proposed that Santos face a criminal investigation for conspiracy to defraud the United States as well as filing false statements with the Federal Election Commission.

In an interview with Vox, Goldman did not weigh in on whether Santos should be denied a seat in Congress. “I think the bigger question is not whether George Santos should be a member of Congress. The bigger question is whether Kevin McCarthy and the Republican leadership think George Santos should be a member of Congress.

Some of Santos’ Republican colleagues also expressed concern. He has come under criticism from several newly elected members of Congress including New York Mike Lawler and Nick LaLota. One Republican member of Congress has come to his defense, though: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).

But, right now, McCarthy needs Santos almost as much as Santos needs McCarthy. The Republican leader faced a revolt among far-right Republicans who opposed him becoming speaker of the House of Representatives in January. With the incoming GOP majority slim, that means McCarthy can only risk a handful of defections for positions that require a majority vote from the entire House. Shortly before the Times story was published, Santos endorsed McCarthy on Twitter.

Furthermore, because Santos is one of the most Democratic seats in Congress held by Republicans, forcing him to resign under any circumstances is risky. It will be a difficult seat for Republicans to hold a special election and the loss will further endanger the GOP’s already slim majority.

In the meantime, it is to wait for the next shoe to drop. As unsustainable as the current status quo is, the only incentive for Santos to step down is embarrassment, and it is unlikely that he will bear that burden.

Update, December 29, 1:20 p.m. ET: This story was originally published on December 21 and has been updated as more details have come to light about Santos’ background.