George Santos breaks silence amid mounting allegations he misrepresented his résumé
The GOP congressman-elect broke his silence Thursday, three days after the New York Times published a bombshell investigation suggesting that he fabricated key parts of his résumé during the campaign.
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Rep.-elect George Santos, R-N.Y., broke his silence Thursday, three days after the New York Times published a bombshell investigation suggesting that he fabricated key parts of his résumé during the campaign.
In a tweet addressed to the people of the state’s Third Congressional District, Santos wrote, “I have my story to tell and it will be told next week.”
“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,” he added. “Happy Holidays to all!”
The Times report, published on Monday, found that Santos may have misled voters about his college graduation, his criminal and employment history, his family-owned business, his animal rescue charity and his relationship with four victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Fla.
Joseph Murray, an attorney for Santos, released a statement saying his client “represents the kind of progress that the Left is so threatened by — a gay, Latino, first-generation American and Republican who won a Biden district in overwhelming fashion by showing everyday voters that there is a better option than the broken promises and failed policies of the Democratic Party.
“After four years in the public eye, and on the verge of being sworn in as a member of the Republican-led 118th Congress, the New York Times launches this shotgun blast of attacks,” Murray continued. “It is no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies at the New York Times who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations.”
The statement — which ended with a quote erroneously attributed to Winston Churchill — did not directly address the allegations that appeared in the story in the Times.
Robert Zimmerman, the Democrat who lost to Santos by 8 points in last month’s election, called on him to resign.
“The reality is Santos flat-out lied to the voters of NY-03,” Zimmerman said in a statement late Monday. “He’s violated the public trust in order to win office and does not deserve to represent Long Island and Queens.
“Santos’s failure to answer any of the questions about these allegations demonstrates why he is unfit for public office and should resign,” Zimmerman added. “It demonstrates why there must be a House Ethics Committee, Federal Elections Commission, and U.S. Attorney investigation immediately.”
State Attorney General Letitia James plans to investigate “some of the issues raised about Santos,” her office told Axios on Thursday.
Santos’s tweet comes after the Forward, a New York City-based Jewish publication, reported that he may have misled voters about having Jewish ancestry.
In the biography posted to his website, Santos claims that his mother, Fatima Devolder, was born in Brazil to immigrants who “fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.”
But according to genealogy records cited by the Forward, Devolder’s parents appear to have been born in Brazil before World War II.
Meanwhile, the Daily Beast reported Thursday that Santos, who was celebrated by the GOP as the first openly gay non-incumbent Republican elected to Congress, “appears to be the subject of a previously unacknowledged Sept. 2019 divorce with a woman in Queens County, New York.”
Less than two weeks after his divorce was finalized, he filed the official paperwork to launch his unsuccessful 2020 congressional campaign, the Daily Beast said.
