Incoming GOP lawmaker George Santos says he will tell his ‘story’ next week

Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) on Thursday said he would tell his “story” next week after various reports raised questions about his life and suggested he may have embellished his résumé and made up claims about his Jewish heritage.

“To the people of #NY03 I have my story to tell and it will be told next week,” Santos tweeted. “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.”

Several questions have been raised about Santos, who flipped a Long Island House seat for the GOP in November and is the first non-incumbent openly gay Republican in Congress.

The New York Times first published a piece this week that suggested Santos may have lied about working at Citibank and Goldman Sachs, reporting neither company has records of him working there.

The Times could also not verify that Santos graduated from New York’s Baruch College or established an animal rescue group as a nonprofit.

Santos refuted the Times report, calling it a “shotgun blast of attacks” meant to “smear” his name.

Other outlets have now raised questions about his claims to Jewish heritage.

Santos says his maternal grandparents fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium and fled again in World War II to Brazil.

But genealogy records say his maternal grandparents were born in Brazil before the Nazis rose to power and Jewish outlets, including The Forward, could not verify immigration records for Santos.

The Republican Jewish Coalition, which recently hosted Santos at two events, said it was inquiring into the allegations against the incoming lawmaker.

The congressman-elect’s identification as a gay man is also being questioned.

On Thursday, the Daily Beast reported that Santos divorced a woman in New York in 2019, which the incoming lawmaker has not disclosed. The marriage alone does not mean he is not gay.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), the incoming House minority leader, on Wednesday said Santos needs to come clean about his life.

“He appears to be a complete and utter fraud — his whole life story made up,” Jeffries told reporters.

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