Santos Sits Alone as Resignation Calls Mount Over His Lies

(Bloomberg) -- George Santos cut a lonely figure on his first formal day in Washington as a newly elected Republican congressman from New York.

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Trailed by reporters Tuesday on the way to his office, Santos answered only one question: that he would support Kevin McCarthy for speaker. During the historically drawn-out process for McCarthy’s bid, Santos, who has acknowledged misrepresenting significant details about his religion, education and career, sat alone in the House chamber and fiddled with his phone much of the time while other members mingled.

Glimpses of Santos on camera repeatedly captured lawmakers ignoring him.

He’s also increasingly isolated back in his home district, which encompasses parts of Queens and Long Island. The Nassau County Republican Party said it wouldn’t support his re-election in 2024, local news organizations called for his resignation and prominent Republicans disavowed him. He’s facing federal and local investigations.

North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena said she feels personally betrayed by Santos, whom she called “a friend and a true leader with a passion for the people” during the campaign.

“As we know now, his experience and background are nothing more than bald-faced lies. What’s more, his answers to news inquiries have been flippant, insincere, and misleading, as he continues to lie in his public responses,” she said in a statement. “He does not have my support, and I will never consider him my congressman.”

The appearance of Santos injected another element of drama for the GOP, already consumed by an intra-party power struggle endangering McCarthy’s effort to become speaker. A handful of conservative holdouts are refusing to back the House GOP leader, who has so far been silent about whether he plans to discipline Santos, despite other Republicans calling for action.

The House adjourned to Wednesday without selecting a speaker, a stunning rebuke for McCarthy. Technically, Santos isn’t yet a sworn member since no other action can occur until a speaker has been elected.

His fabrications became widely publicized after he was elected, and federal and local officials have since opened investigations into the discrepancies and questions about his finances, including those of his campaign. And on Tuesday, Brazilian authorities said they would petition to reopen a 2008 fraud case against Santos, now that they know how to find him. The New York Times first reported that prosecutors wanted to revive that case.

Santos, 34, has admitted he made up much of his resume, including that he graduated from college and worked for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. He has also previously suggested that he was Jewish.

The Long Island Herald was among a number of local news publications to call for his resignation, acknowledging that more than a quarter million people voted for Santos, but that many of them were misled.

“Those voters overwhelmingly chose George Santos to take that job. Yet the George Santos they elected is not actually George Santos,” the Dec. 29 editorial said. “And since the George Santos voters chose doesn’t exist, the real George Santos must do the right thing and step aside.”

Another local outlet, the North Shore Leader, called Santos “bizarre” before the election. Since then, his fabrications came under much more scrutiny in a New York Times report in December. He addressed them last week in an interview with the New York Post in which he apologized for misrepresentations but insisted that he would still take office.

“I don’t like anyone who lies,” said one of his constituents, Jean Pierce, an 82-year-old Republican from Great Neck. “You can make a mistake, not get a fact right, but if you deliberately lie, it’s in your DNA.”

--With assistance from Shelly Banjo, Andrew Rosati, Steven T. Dennis and Billy House.

(Updates with constituent, in final paragraph.)

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