George Santos
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
George Santos | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2023 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 3rd district | |
| In office January 3, 2023 – December 1, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Tom Suozzi |
| Succeeded by | TBD |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 22, 1988 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Criminal information | |
| Criminal status |
|
| Criminal charge | 23 felonies
|
George Anthony Devolder Santos (/ˈsæntoʊs, ˈsɑːn-/ SAN-tohss, SAHN-tohss; Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈsɐ̃tus]; born July 22, 1988) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for New York's 3rd congressional district from January to December 2023.[1] A member of the Republican Party, he was elected to Congress in 2022 after running unsuccessfully in 2020. Santos became the first openly LGBT member elected to Congress as a non-incumbent Republican.[2] He was expelled from Congress on December 1, 2023,[3] the sixth such expulsion in the history of the House of Representatives.[4][5][6]
Santos grew up in Queens, New York and later lived in Brazil. After returning to the United States, he worked for companies in New York and Florida. In 2021, he founded a company called the Devolder Organization; it is closely held and little is known about it.[7][8] Within six weeks of his election, numerous news outlets began reporting that much of his biography appeared to be fabricated, including claims about his ancestry, education, employment history, charity work, financial status, property ownership, ethnicity, religion, and crimes of which he claimed to be a victim. Santos admits to lying about his education and employment history,[8] while his disclosures about his business activities, income, and personal wealth are self-contradictory.[7][8]
Post-election investigations also revealed that Santos had not been forthright about his criminal history nor a series of lawsuits against him. In 2010, he confessed to having committed check fraud in Brazil in 2008,[2] but he failed to appear in court in 2011, leaving the case unresolved.[9] Brazilian authorities revived the case in late 2022[10] and he later agreed to plead guilty.[11] Santos admits that he never paid thousands of dollars in New York eviction and personal debt related judgments from the 2010s.[12] In 2017, he was charged with theft by deception in Pennsylvania, but the charges were dropped and later expunged.[13]
Two 2023 federal indictments allege 23 fraud-related charges against Santos, to which he has pleaded not guilty.[14][15] He rejected calls to resign and survived an initial expulsion vote. After the House Ethics Committee released a report in November implicating Santos in fraud, he was expelled from the House of Representatives by a vote of 311–114, exceeding the necessary two-thirds majority.[16]
Early life and education
George Anthony Devolder Santos[a] was born on July 22, 1988,[20][b] to Fátima Aziza Caruso Horta Devolder and Gercino Antônio dos Santos Jr. (known as Junior), both of whom were born in Brazil;[22] he has a younger sister, Tiffany.[23]
His maternal grandparents, Paulo Horta Devolder and Rosalina Caruso Horta Devolder, were also born in Brazil. Three of his four maternal great-grandparents were also born in Brazil, with the other born in Belgium.[22] Fátima Devolder immigrated to Florida as a migrant worker to pick beans in 1985. She later moved to New York City and worked as a housekeeper, cook, and nanny.[24][25][c] Gercino Santos worked as a house painter.[27] Santos has claimed dual citizenship in the U.S. and Brazil.[9][d] In 2013, a Brazilian court described him as American.[29]
Santos has said his family was poor during his childhood, living in a rat-infested basement apartment in Jackson Heights, Queens, near a Brazilian immigrant enclave in Astoria. Relatives and friends recall that his parents and an aunt often bought him dolls, toys, and clothes despite their lack of money, and that the family television was constantly tuned to the Brazilian Globo TV network.[30] The Santos's marriage appears to have ended by 1998, when records in Gercino's native state of Minas Gerais show that he remarried there. Santos remained close to his mother, living with her intermittently until her death, and maintaining infrequent contact with his father, with whom it has been said he has a strained relationship.[31] According to biographer Mark Chiusano, Santos developed a reputation within his family for deceit and theft during his childhood.[e]
Santos holds a GED (Certificate of High School Equivalency).[2] He attended Intermediate School 125 (also known as I.S. 125 Thomas J. McCann Woodside Intermediate School) in Woodside, Queens, and Primary School 122 (also known as P.S.122 The Mamie Fay School) in Astoria.[36][37] Classmate Tiffany Bogosian, who later successfully defended Santos in a criminal case, recalls that he took English as a Second Language classes, like many other students at the schools from immigrant families, and often offered to take girls shopping.[38]
In Brazil
George moved to Niterói in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area, where Fátima was then living, around 2008 and lived there until 2011,[9][39] although acquaintances of Santos from that period are unsure whether he lived in Brazil or merely visited from the U.S. Many knew him as Anthony Devolder. Fátima lived in difficult circumstances, working odd jobs, moving around frequently due to unpaid rent and obtaining electricity illegally, but Santos told people his family had money because his father was a high-paid executive in New York. He often seemed to have money himself, and spent freely, but no one could say if he worked.[40]
A friend from that time says Santos was very involved in local LGBT activism, handing out leaflets and regularly attending meetings of a local activist group and Pride parades.[40][f] Two former acquaintances said that he competed as a drag queen in Brazilian beauty pageants in 2008 using the drag name Kitara Ravache,[g][42][43] with one saying that Santos began dressing in drag in 2005. Manoel Antiqueira, who performs in drag as Eula Rochard, recalls Santos returning from a 2007 trip to the U.S. with expensive materials for a dress that were not available in Brazil at the time.[40][h] Santos denied having been a drag queen, calling the allegations "categorically false" and accusing the media of making "outrageous claims about my life";[49] two days later, he said, "No, I was not a drag queen in Brazil, guys. I was young and I had fun at a festival."[50]
While in Brazil, Santos's politics were shaped by his family's generally strong support for right-wing politician Jair Bolsonaro, a federal deputy at the time who later became the country's President. This was coupled with disdain for Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whom the Santoses have frequently disparaged on social media. Despite Bolsonaro's open homophobia, Santos supported him, often making similar statements in person, but not on social media until he defended Bolsonaro in a 2021 tweet. After winning his House election the following year, he posted a picture of himself with Bolsonaro's equally conservative ally Carla Zambelli to Instagram.[51]
Santos, along with his mother, was an avid bingo player (commercial bingo is illegal in Brazil, but that prohibition is not seriously enforced). On one night they met Adriana Parizzi, another acquaintance of Rochard, who at that time primarily lived off a large amount of money that she inherited from her parents after their deaths. She and George became close friends, spending what she now estimates was thousands of dollars of her money on bingo, food, and motels the two enjoyed together.[52]
Early career
From October 2011 to July 2012, Santos worked as a customer service representative at a call center for Dish Network in College Point, Queens.[53] Hired for his second-language skill, he handled calls from Portuguese-speaking customers. Coworkers recall him as having "the gift of gab" and good phone skills to deal with perturbed customers, but he was also willing to bend rules. In his first week, he figured out how to game the system to produce lower average call times, a desirable metric; many other employees did this, but took much more time to learn how. On several occasions, Santos left the call center during shifts to go shopping. Coworkers wondered why he was working there for $12 an hour, as he often claimed his family was extremely wealthy.[54][i]
The New York Times verified that, sometime after 2013, Santos worked for HotelsPro, a subsidiary of Turkey-headquartered MetGlobal,[56] which was later reported to have many negative online reviews.[57] In early 2016, Santos moved to Orlando, Florida, where HotelsPro was opening an office. He registered to vote and changed his driver's license to his Florida residence.[58]
In 2017, using the name George Devolder, Santos began working in an unconfirmed capacity for LinkBridge Investors, a small company that "hosts closed-door conferences" for investors.[56] His 2019 campaign disclosure form and a company document list him as a vice president,[2] but that same year, the company president testified in a lawsuit that he was a freelancer who worked on commission.[59] A press release for the company referred to him as its New York regional director.[60]
Harbor City Capital
In January 2020, shortly after Santos launched his first campaign for Congress in November 2019,[2][61] he began working for Harbor City Capital, a Florida-based alternative investment firm. The Securities and Exchange Commission later filed a civil suit accusing the company of running a $17 million Ponzi scheme.[62] In June 2020, during his first run for Congress, Santos (under the name George Devolder) opened an office for Harbor City Capital at 1345 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan;[63] the next month he became the firm's New York regional director.[j][65] He was not personally named in the lawsuit, and he has publicly denied any knowledge of the fraud.[2] In a 2020 interview Santos claimed to be managing $1.5 billion in funds for Harbor City, with a fixed yield of 12 percent and an internal rate of return of 26 percent.[62]
Harbor City paid Santos at least through April 2021, after which he founded the Devolder Organization, which he has claimed as the basis of his wealth.[66] Andrew Intrater, a financier in New York, said Santos told him he had been let go from Harbor City before that due to conflicts with his political activities, but the company's founder has said that Santos was "definitely one of the ones that got the notice that everything we had, had been frozen".[67] Another investor Santos had pitched Harbor City to said Santos called him after the SEC suit was filed, crying that he had lost a million dollars of his own as a result.[68]
Devolder Organization
Santos has given inconsistent explanations of the Devolder Organization's business.[7] The House Ethics Committee's investigation found that Santos incorporated Devolder in May 2021, although he reported income from it on his 2020 income tax return.[69]
According to his financial disclosures, Santos was the sole owner and managing member of the business, managing $80 million in assets.[2][k] On financial disclosure forms, Santos called Devolder a "capital introduction consulting" firm.[2] Although based in New York, the company was registered in Florida where it was dissolved in September 2022 for failing to file annual reports. Santos said that its accountant had missed the annual filing deadline.[71] In 2022, Devolder lent his congressional campaign more than $700,000 and reported receiving a salary of $750,000 and dividends of $1–5 million from Devolder, even though he also listed the company's estimated value as in the same range.[2]
Despite claims about the company's size, Santos's financial disclosure forms listed no clients; three experts in election law interviewed by the Times said that this omission "could be problematic if such clients exist".[2] In July 2022, Dun & Bradstreet estimated Devolder's revenue at less than $50,000.[72] Santos listed himself as the registered agent on the paperwork for the company, indicating Florida rather than New York residence. The company's mailing address was a Merritt Island apartment purchased in August 2022,[73] an address owned by Harbor City's chief technology officer Jayson Benoit.[64]
The Ethics Committee found that Devolder's 2021 financial statements showed a $13,000 loss. At the time Santos filed his 2022 financial disclosure statement, Devolder had $4 in its bank account. When Santos applied for the account, he had told the bank that Devolder made $800,000 in net profit every year and grossed $1.5 million, an amount far over what bank records showed it ever had. "Representative Santos' use of both his business and personal accounts with the same bank seemed to primarily be to deposit and then withdraw funds, often at ATMs and/or in all-cash transactions", the committee reported. "The source for the significant cash deposits, which were often made just before a withdrawal for a similar amount, remains unclear."[74]
Political activities
Santos was president of United for Trump, a small New York state-based group supporting Donald Trump's re-election. In July 2019, the group staged a counterprotest to an anti-Trump rally in Buffalo, New York, which led to shouting and a fistfight.[75][76] Santos tried to set up a limited liability corporation and unsuccessfully tried to raise $20,000 for a planned August 2019 rally.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2020 campaign
Santos ran as a Republican for the United States House of Representatives in New York's 3rd congressional district, against Democratic incumbent Tom Suozzi, launching his campaign in November 2019.[2] Normally, the Nassau County Republican Committee, known for the tight control that its leadership exercises over often competitive races for its nominations, would have discouraged an unknown candidate with such minimal experience. But the pandemic depressed interest in the race, and Suozzi was expected to win handily in any event. No other candidates put their names forward, leaving Santos as the nominee that year. Queens Republicans, still angry over his abortive challenge to them the year before, were unsupportive.[77] Santos raised funds, spoke to donor groups, and attended a phone-banking session at Mar-a-Lago with Donald Trump's children; his efforts impressed party officials. He bought entire tables at New York Young Republican events. Other candidates making the same rounds noticed that Santos repeatedly exaggerated his fundraising totals, with a wide contrast between what he said and what he reported in his campaign finance disclosure forms.[78]
Suozzi later recalled that he had no doubt he would defeat Santos, an unknown who was not well-funded and who at the time was registered to vote in an area of Queens then outside the district.[78][79] When reporters pressed him about living outside the district, Santos claimed an address that turned out to be his campaign treasurer's.[78] Suozzi recalled that during their few joint campaign appearances, Santos "came across as a phony"[79] and that because Santos was so little-known in the district, the Suozzi campaign decided not to pay for opposition research, deciding that it would be counterproductive to increase his name recognition by drawing attention to him, even negatively.[77] Suozzi won, as expected, 55.9 percent to 43.4 percent, a margin of about 46,000 votes.[80] Despite the loss, local Republicans were pleasantly surprised by Santos's performance.[81]
Refusal to accept election results
Santos refused to accept his 2020 defeat and falsely claimed that the vote totals had been manipulated. He began raising money and hiring additional staff for a recount, insisting that half the Democratic ballots should have been discarded, and refused to leave the orientation session for new members of Congress even after his opponent's victory was certified.[78]
Santos spoke at a "Stop the Steal" rally the day before the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, telling the crowd that the election he lost by 13 points in 2020 was stolen from him.[78] On January 6, he attended Trump's Save America rally at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C. He later said that Trump "was energized", gave "a great speech", and was "at his full awesomeness" that day. After the speech, a mob of Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, disrupting the counting of the electoral votes that formalized Trump's loss in the 2020 United States presidential election.[82] Santos later said he was "never on Capitol grounds" on January 6, called it a "sad and dark day", and acknowledged that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.[82][83]
2022 campaign
Shortly after his loss to Suozzi, Santos formed GADS PAC, a Leadership PAC, and began raising money to run again.[84] Former New York state Republican chair Nick Langworthy (who was elected to Congress in 2022, along with Santos) said that "George never stopped being a candidate" and "was spending time at Mar-a-Lago, raising money in different circles".[81]
New York Representative Elise Stefanik was an early supporter.[77] She endorsed him in August 2021, and nine months later tweeted that she helped him raise over $100,000 at a lunch fundraiser.[85]
Some Republicans began to have reservations about Santos. In mid-2021, one of his former advisors found out about his connections to Harbor City and some of its business practices; he was unsuccessful in getting a newspaper to cover it. After learning that Santos falsely claimed to have been endorsed by Trump, a major New York Republican donor who could not verify his claimed work history shared her suspicions with friends close to Stefanik. Saying they were "tired of being duped", the group asked Santos for his résumé; he refused, telling them the request was "invasive".[77]
With Santos's permission, his campaign commissioned a vulnerability study on him late in the year. Some of his campaign staff were so taken aback by what the hundred-page study found (including much that subsequently became publicly known, such as questions about his educational, employment and ancestral claims, and discrepancies in his financial statements[57]) that they advised him to drop out of the race. He refused, disputing some of the study's findings and saying he would show them his diplomas. He never did, and after he told them he did not believe the information was as damaging as they did, the campaign staffers resigned.[77] Those who remained grew increasingly concerned about Santos's propensity for falsehood that they asked him to seek some sort of professional help.[86]
According to unnamed sources, Dan Conston, an ally of Kevin McCarthy and leader of the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main House Republican Super PAC, told congressional leaders and donors about concerns that Santos might be revealed as a fraud.[77] Through Stefanik, Santos was able to hire new staffers. He required those departed staffers to sign nondisclosure agreements.[77]
Republican officials had privately discussed the dubiousness of Santos's claimed past employment and personal wealth, but assumed he would have been vetted in 2020. Some Republicans tried to recruit state senator Jack Martins.[77] After another candidate talked about running, Santos and his PACs donated $185,000 to the county Republican committee, which soon endorsed him.[78] Republicans assumed that Santos would be running against Suozzi again, and Nassau County Republicans thus concentrated their efforts on state and local office.[77]
After Suozzi announced in November 2021 that he would not seek reelection to Congress and instead would challenge Kathy Hochul for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, the seat was left open, improving Republicans' chances.[87]
Unopposed for the Republican nomination himself, Santos ran for the open seat against Democratic nominee Robert Zimmerman,[88][89] who had run for the similar 4th district seat 40 years earlier,[90] securing the 2022 nomination in late August in a six-way primary. His campaign had access to a 78-page opposition research file on Santos the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) had compiled, which, in addition to statements of political positions anathema to Democratic voters, found some of the problems with Santos's record. Some of these were flagged as needing further research, such as whether Santos had a criminal record. Since that further research would cost thousands of dollars, Zimmerman decided that in the limited time he had until the election, his campaign would instead focus its spending on voter outreach and advertising.[77]
In September 2022, The North Shore Leader, a weekly newspaper serving the "largely wealthy local communities on the North Shore of Long Island",[91] reported on Santos's employment at Harbor City and on questions raised by Santos's personal financial disclosure forms as well as his claims of personal wealth.[91][92] In an October editorial, the paper endorsed Zimmerman, saying that Santos was "bizarre, unprincipled and sketchy" and "most likely just a fabulist—a fake".[91][93][94] No other media outlet reported on the matter until after the election.[91][95][96][97]
Campaign workers later described the organization as "sloppy" and the workplace as "toxic". Santos preferred hiring younger, less experienced workers who would be less likely to second-guess him. A former staffer described Santos as "very high-maintenance" and demanding, saying there was a feeling of paranoia throughout the campaign. Though he drove Santos to the office daily, the former staffer recalled being confused that Santos boasted of owning property in Nantucket while being picked up from a small apartment in Queens. Another employee recalled that her phone calls and emails were not answered for several days after she sent them.[98]
Late in the campaign, both parties realized the elections on Long Island would be close and could decide control of the House. A Democratic political action committee spent $3 million in the 3rd district race to support Zimmerman. On the Republican side, the Congressional Leadership Fund (CLF) spent nothing, while at the same time committing $1.5 million to the neighboring 2nd and 4th district races, also ultimately won by Republicans.[99] Sources told the Times that the CLF's leadership had been made aware of the problems with Santos.[77]
Santos defeated Zimmerman in the November 2022 election[88][89] by an 8 percent margin,[100] flipping the district (in what observers saw as a "mild upset") and helping Republicans retake control of the House by a narrow margin.[2] His election made him the first LGBT non-incumbent Republican elected to federal office.[2]
2024 campaign
When the Santos campaign announced in April 2023 that he was seeking reelection the next year, their news release called him a "first-generation American". Asked for clarification, the campaign told Vice that he was a "first-generation American" in the sense that he was born to immigrant parents in the U.S.[101]
Since he had reported raising more than $5,000 in campaign contributions as of the end of January 2023, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) gave him until mid-March to declare his candidacy in the next election.[102] On March 14, Santos filed a formal statement of candidacy with the commission, which did not mean that he would seek reelection, but only that he then planned to do so.[103] A month later he formally declared he would run again in 2024; the state's Conservative and Republican party chairs said they would not support him.[104]
Following the failure of the October 2023 vote to expel him from the House, Santos said he would run again in 2024 even if expelled from the House before the election, since he had not, he believed, been elected due to his biographical claims. "Nobody elected me because I played volleyball or not. Nobody elected me because I graduated college or not", he told CNN. "People elected me because I said I'd come here to fight the swamp, I'd come here to lower inflation, create more jobs, make life more affordable, and the commitment to America."[105]
After the House Ethics Committee's report the next month making further fraud allegations against Santos, he announced he would not run for re-election.[106]
Tenure
On January 11, four Republican New York congressmen who had also been elected in 2022—Anthony D'Esposito, Nick LaLota, Nick Langworthy, and Brandon Williams—called for Santos to resign.[107] The other two freshman Republican members of Congress from New York, Marc Molinaro and Mike Lawler, followed suit.[108] Joseph Cairo, the chair of the Nassau County Republican Party, also called for Santos to resign, saying that he had "disgraced the House of Representatives, and we do not consider him one of our congresspeople".[107]
Santos refused to resign,[109] and kept the support of Republican House leadership, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, House majority leader Steve Scalise, and Representative Elise Stefanik (the fourth-highest-ranking House Republican), who relied in part on Santos's vote to support their very narrow (four-seat) House majority.[110][111] McCarthy did not deny Santos committee assignments or impose any penalty on him for the misrepresentations he made during his campaign.[111] Santos was assigned to the committees on small business and science, space, and technology. On January 31, he announced at a meeting of House Republicans that he was vacating his committee memberships, but said the move was temporary.[112]
In February 2023, Santos co-sponsored a bill to designate the "AR-15–style rifle" the National Gun of the United States.[113][114]
In 2023, Santos voted in favor of the key bills supported by the House Republican leadership.[110] After his indictment in May, House Republican leadership reiterated that they would not seek to force Santos to resign or expel him from the House.[110] A subsequent attempt by Democrats to force a vote on an expulsion resolution was blocked and referred to the Committee on Ethics.[115]
Later in 2023, House Democrats announced they would introduce a resolution to censure Santos. Unlike an expulsion, the measure would need only a simple majority to pass. Democrats said that Republicans who had informally criticized Santos should have no problem with a censure vote.[116] Five New York Republicans who had already called on Santos to resign—LaLota, Molinaro, D'Esposito, Langworthy and Lawler—said they would vote for censure, as did Ohio Republican Max Miller.[117]
Roll Call reported in July 2023 that Santos's office considerably lagged those of members from neighboring districts in handling constituent service requests. Neither the Internal Revenue Service nor the Small Business Administration, the federal agencies that handle the bulk of those requests, reported having received or processed any from Santos's office. The seven cases his office claimed were or had been before those agencies were few compared with neighboring members D'Esposito and LaLota. While the latter had announced he would handle requests from Santos's constituents, House ethics rules limit the amount of services members can perform for non-constituents and so most were referred to the offices of senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer, who did not say how many were coming from the 3rd district.[118][l]
Santos was among the 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[119]
In October, Santos voted to keep McCarthy as Speaker when eight Republicans joined with House Democrats to remove him. He refused to support Steve Scalise as McCarthy's replacement, since the Louisiana congressman had not personally sought Santos's support. "I've come to the conclusion that my VOTE doesn't matter to him," he said.[120] After Scalise dropped out of the race Santos did not say whether he would support Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan. He did promise to resign and reduce the party's majority if Republicans worked with Hakeem Jeffries or other Democrats to elect a Democrat, or a Republican beholden to Democrats.[121]
Committee assignments
Withdrew on January 31, 2023[112]
Political positions
Santos has aligned himself with former president Donald Trump.[2] At a March 2019 event held by the conservative #WalkAway Foundation that encouraged members of the LGBTQ community to leave the Democratic Party, Santos (introducing himself as Anthony Devolder) claimed to have formed a group called United for Trump and asked Blaire White, a transgender YouTuber, how she "can help educate other trans people from not having to follow the narrative that the media and the Democrats put forward".[124] In 2023, Santos attended a rally of supporters outside the Manhattan courthouse where Trump was arraigned on felony charges of falsifying business records.[125]
Santos has called police brutality a "made-up concept".[2] In a 2022 speech to the Whitestone Republican Club in Whitestone, Queens, Santos called abortion "barbaric" and compared it to slavery.[126]
In October 2023, after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Santos said, "I think every inch of [the United States] at this point should be mapped out again and completely checked. I don't care if we go into a police state for a couple of months."[127]
False biographical statements
On December 19, 2022, after Santos won the election but before he took office, The New York Times reported that he misrepresented many aspects of his life, including his education and employment history.[2] Santos's lawyer denied the allegations.[2][128][129] On December 21, The Forward and Jewish Insider reported that Santos had lied about his family having Jewish heritage.[22][130] His initial claims that his maternal grandparents were Jewish Holocaust refugees who fled Soviet Ukraine and German-occupied Belgium were false;[130] his maternal grandparents were born in Brazil.[22] On December 22, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced an investigation had been opened into Santos.[131]
On December 26, Santos broke his silence with radio interviews on WABC[132][133] and in The New York Post.[134][135] He denied being a criminal, saying, "I'm not a fraud. I'm not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional character and ran for Congress."[136] Santos admitted to the Post that he lied about graduating from college and working for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. During the interview, he said: "I never claimed to be Jewish. I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was 'Jew-ish.'"[134] By December 28, federal prosecutors for the Eastern District of New York were investigating Santos's finances, and the Nassau County district attorney was investigating him.[137]
Family
In 2020, Santos claimed that he was biracial and that his Brazilian-born father had roots in Angola, which Jewish Insider could not confirm.[2][130]
Santos was raised a Catholic, but at various points in his career claimed to be "Jewish"; "Jew-ish"; "half Jewish"; a non-observant Jew; "a proud American Jew"; and a "Latino Jew"; at other points, Santos has described himself as a Catholic.[138]
In a January 2020 appearance on Talking GOP, a cable TV show he co-hosted, Santos claimed his maternal grandfather grew up Jewish, converted to Catholicism before the Holocaust, and raised his children Catholic. Santos said "I'm Catholic" and that he was not "trying to claim Jewish heritage", but also, "I believe we are all Jewish, at the end – because Jesus Christ is Jewish. And if you believe in Jesus, and we're all brothers in Christ, I mean." The video was resurfaced in early 2023.[139]
Appearing on an October 2020 radio show, Santos claimed that Democratic former congressman Steve Israel offered him his support during an event hosted by the Council for a Secure America, a bipartisan group co-chaired by Israel. Santos claimed that Israel told him: "You're going to be the first Republican I am voting for in my life." Israel denied saying anything of the kind, and Santos did not appear on the event's guest list.[140][138] Santos did not otherwise make much mention of his purported Jewish ancestry during his 2020 run, but referred to it frequently in 2022 when all the candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to replace Suozzi were Jewish.[78]
At a meeting at the U.S.-Israel PAC a month before his 2022 election, Santos courted pro-Israel activists by falsely claiming to be "halakhically Jewish", according to attendees.[138] A co-chair of the organization said this served to give the impression that Santos's mother was Jewish, getting "a chuckle out of the crowd".[138]
Santos's former roommate said Santos frequently made antisemitic jokes, saying it was acceptable because he was Jewish, and corroborated an account that Santos previously joked online about Adolf Hitler killing Jews and Blacks.[141][142]
In 2023 media appearances, Santos claimed that his claim to Jewish ancestry was vindicated by DNA test kits, but he did not reveal the results.[143][144][145] Santos said on a May 2023 podcast that he was raised Catholic but considered himself a "member of the tribe" because his mother's ancestry was predominantly Jewish. Santos said he had many Jewish friends among his constituents and went to Shabbat dinners "more often than most".[145] Six months later he promised CNN's Manu Raju that he was still working on getting proof of his grandparents' ancestry, but that was difficult due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War.[m] In Brazil, he said, he was "finishing getting the last pieces of it", which he described as evidence that would show his grandparents, after emigrating there, forged documents "so that they can blend in and all of that".[147]
Mother
On his campaign website, Santos wrote that his mother was "the first female executive at a major financial institution", worked in the South Tower of the World Trade Center, and died "a few years later" after surviving the September 11 attacks.[148] But on her 2003 visa application, his mother stated she had not been in the country since 1999;[149] in June 2001 Fatima reported she was living in Brazil.[150] Her actual occupation has been described as domestic worker[151] or home care nurse.[152][153]
Upon her death, a Brazilian newspaper described her as a cook. Santos's former roommates and friends said she spoke no English.[58] In July 2021, Santos wrote that "9/11 claimed my mothers [sic] life". In an October 2021 interview, he said his mother was "caught up in the ash cloud" during 9/11 but "never applied for relief" because the family could afford the medical bills. In December 2021, he wrote that his mother died five years earlier. In December 2022, he claimed his parents survived being "down there" at the World Trade Center during 9/11.[154][155] A priest at the family's Catholic church reported that Santos told him the family could not afford a funeral when his mother died in 2016. The priest recalled that a collection at a memorial Mass raised a "significant" amount for the family, which he gave to Santos.[148] He also had a friend set up a GoFundMe.[156] In November 2023 Vanity Fair reported that the funeral home never received the $6,000 it was owed for its services.[157]
In his February 2023 Piers Morgan interview, Santos insisted his mother had been at the World Trade Center the day of the attack. "It's quite insensitive to try to rehash my mother's legacy", he said. "She wasn't one to mislead me ... I stay convinced that's the truth."[158]
Education
In 2019 and 2020 Santos said that as a child, he attended the Horace Mann School, an elite preparatory school in the Bronx, before withdrawing because of family hardship. After denials from the school, Santos claimed that he attended ninth grade there for only six months, suggesting he used one of his other names. The school reiterated that its records indicate that no student attended classes there around that time using any variation of his name, which Santos's biographer Chiusano further confirmed.[159][58][160][161] Chiusano wrote that although Santos has retracted claims about his higher education, he remained adamant about having attended Horace Mann, despite the complete absence of evidence.[161]
Santos falsely claimed to hold a bachelor's degree in finance and economics from Baruch College and to have graduated in the top percentile of his class with a 3.89 grade point average; his claimed period of attendance overlapped with his time in Brazil.[2][56] Friends of his recalled times when he claimed to be taking classes at Baruch but never seemed to study.[58] In January 2023, Nassau County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Cairo said during a press conference that Santos falsely told him that he was a "star player" on the Baruch volleyball team, as his LinkBridge supervisor had been,[162] and that it had won the league championship.[163] In a pre-election radio interview, Santos claimed that his supposed volleyball career led to him needing both knees replaced.[164][165] He has admitted to lying about graduating from any college.[8]
Santos also falsely claimed to hold a master of business administration from New York University (NYU), to have scored 710 on the Graduate Management Admission Test,[128][56] and to have paid off student loans by 2020.[166] A prospective Harbor City investor recalled that Santos told him he had turned down an offer to attend Harvard Business School.[68] Gregory Morey-Parker, a roommate who lent Santos money in 2014 that has not been repaid despite a judgment to that effect, recalled Santos claiming to be a graduate of NYU's business school but seeming not to know its name;[151][n] he also later recalled how Santos's personal financial situation fluctuated wildly: "[He] would go to bars with rolls of hundred dollar bills and, three days later, he would have no money."[167]
In his interview with Morgan, Santos admitted that he lied about his college experience, calling it the "biggest regret of his life". He explained that he did so because of the "expectation on society" to have that as part of his biography, but that he couldn't afford to actually attend.[158] He disclaimed any responsibility for the GMAT score appearing in the résumé published by the Nassau County Republican committee, saying, "I didn't supply it and nobody associated with me supplied it." Morgan asked why Santos thought he could get away with lying about his education in a congressional election, and Santos replied that since no one had raised any questions about those claims during his 2020 campaign, he believed they would not be an issue in a later campaign.[168] Santos blamed his résumé lies on the local Republican Party, saying in a February 2023 Newsmax interview, "I would have never gotten the nomination from the Nassau County GOP if I had not concluded college."[169]
Employment
Santos has used various aliases, including "Anthony Zabrovsky" and "Anthony Devolder".[170][159][156] A 2011 Wikipedia userpage created under the latter name claims the account holder acted in Hannah Montana and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.[48]
After returning from Brazil, Santos told friends that he had worked as a journalist for Brazilian media conglomerate Globo.[171] The New York Times could not find his name on the organization's website.[58] Santos also told a roommate in late 2013 that he was a model who had worked at New York Fashion Week and would be appearing in Vogue.[171]
Santos called himself a "seasoned Wall Street financier and investor" and said he had worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but neither company has any record of him.[2] His campaign website stated that he was "an associate asset manager in the real asset division" of Citigroup,[8] but the company sold its asset management division in 2005, before his claimed employment.[2] On a 2022 podcast, Santos claimed that while employed at Goldman he attended the SALT Conference seven years earlier and criticized the company for investing in renewable energy, calling it a taxpayer-subsidized scam. Anthony Scaramucci, who runs the conference, said there is no record that Santos ever attended.[159]
Santos worked as a customer service representative at a call center for Dish Network in College Point, Queens, from October 2011 to July 2012, overlapping the time he said he worked at Citigroup.[53][151] He later told the New York Post that his Citigroup claim was "a poor choice of words" and that a subsequent employer had been in "limited partnerships" with those companies.[134] Acquaintances and coworkers said that Santos claimed his family was wealthy and had extensive real estate holdings in the U.S. and Brazil.[151] He repeated this claim during his 2022 congressional campaign, saying that he and his family owned 13 rental properties in New York. No such properties were listed on his campaign's financial disclosure forms or in public records.[2] Santos later admitted to the Post that the claim was false and he owned no properties as of the end of 2022.[134]
In a November 2022 interview, Santos discussed the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting that took place in Orlando, saying that his company "lost four employees" there.[97] The New York Times found no connection between the 49 victims killed in the attack and any company named in Santos's biography.[2] In a December 2022 interview, Santos changed his story, saying, "We did lose four people that were going to be coming to work for the company that I was starting up in Orlando".[8]
During his 2022 congressional campaign, Santos told prospective donors that he was a producer for the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. Michael Cohl, Spider-Man's lead producer, denied that Santos was involved with the show, and the musical's playbills did not contain his name. Santos was living in Brazil in 2011 when the show opened, and his alleged time as producer overlaps his employment at Dish Network.[172]
In August 2023, Santos downplayed the significance of the many false or exaggerated claims he had made related to his job history, saying he had not posted his résumé online during his campaign. He also noted that "studies show that most people lie on their resumes. It's just unfortunately ... the reality."[173]
Residence
During his 2020 campaign, Santos listed his residence in Elmhurst, Queens, outside the district in which he was then seeking office.[151][o] Santos and his partner later moved to a rowhouse in Whitestone, Queens; its owner said they had moved there in July 2020.[151] In March 2022, Santos told Newsday that he left Whitestone because of an alleged January 2021 vandalism incident.[151] He was registered to vote at the Whitestone address during his congressional campaigns, but did not appear to live there.[2]
Santos's landlord said he moved out of the Whitestone residence in August 2022, leaving $17,000 in damages,[151] but records showed he was still registered there when he voted that November. He continued to receive mail there after the election, including the certificate of his election victory, according to the landlord, who had disposed of most of it.[174] Santos told reporters he planned to move to Oyster Bay, but he and his partner apparently moved into a house in Huntington, outside his congressional district's boundaries, in August 2022.[151][o] He told the Post the house was his sister's, but the New York Times later found she lived in Elmhurst.[175]
Victimhood
On at least three occasions Santos has claimed to have been the victim of a crime that he apparently never reported to the police. In January 2016, he claimed to have been robbed of the money he was on his way to give his former landlady's attorney in settlement of her eviction claim against him.[176] Five years later, Santos claimed he and his partner had found stones and eggs thrown at their Whitestone apartment after they returned to it from a party at Mar-a-Lago. The owner, who lived in the building's lower unit, did not recall any such incident and the New York Times found no relevant police report.[151]
After his election, Santos told two Brazilian journalists on a podcast that during mid-2021, he was mugged in New York City as he walked out of a building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 55th Street in midtown Manhattan in mid-afternoon. Thieves, he said, made off with his briefcase, watch, and shoes and fled the scene before anyone, even the police, noticed anything. Vanity Fair noted that the intersection in question is one of the busiest in the city with high security at its luxury businesses. Santos did not provide a police report of the incident.[177] His description of the alleged assault included a comment that has been characterized as an "overtly racist" stereotype about Black people being likely to commit crimes.[178]
In October 2023, Santos told the New York Times that a few months earlier his niece had vanished from a Queens playground, only to be found 40 minutes later in the company of two Chinese men. He claimed to suspect that the incident was retaliation for his opposition to the Chinese Communist Party. The newspaper found that while the incident had been reported to police, investigators found no evidence to support the story and suspected it had been invented.[179]
Health
In addition to his claim in October 2020 of having both knees replaced,[164][165] Santos said in an interview earlier that year that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and received radiation treatment. He also claims to suffer from an immunodeficiency and acute chronic bronchitis. When asked in 2022, his campaign did not give details or answer questions about his purported brain tumor.[180]
Charitable work
In his 2020 campaign online biography, Santos claimed he and his family had worked charitably on behalf of children born with the rare genetic skin disorder epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Vice News found that no one involved with the few charities that specifically work with EB patients in the U.S. or Brazil had ever received contributions, or heard of him (under any name Santos is known to have used) or his family being involved with efforts in that area.[181] Sometime during 2022, the campaign changed the website so it no longer mentioned EB to language saying his family's charitable efforts were directed at "helping at-risk children and America's veterans".[182]
Campaign finance
During his 2020 campaign, one consultant who met Santos called him "a walking campaign-finance violation", and said that Santos frequently volunteered ideas for getting around restrictions. One was to have donors who had reached their limit give to other Republicans' PACs, which would then donate the money back to him.[78]
Financial disclosures
Santos filed personal financial disclosure forms the House requires of congressional candidates in early September, 20 months past the due date,[p] when he had raised $5,000 in campaign funds. The Leader took note of the contrast between them and similar forms he had filed for the 2020 elections. In 2020, he had listed a net worth of $5,000 and claimed his only income was his $50,000 Harbor City Capital salary;[q] his tax return for that year (dated in April 2023), the House Ethics Committee reported, reports over $90,000 in total income from Devolder.[185] Over $80,000 in loans Santos claimed to have made to his campaign that year were, the committee found, mostly fictitious, vastly overstating the campaign's available funds to the point that one staffer waited eight months to be paid;[186] the nearly $28,000 in repayments the campaign reported making to Santos were thus pure profit for him.[187] Santos's lawyer blamed the treasurer of his joint fundraiser committee (JFC) Nancy Marks' incompetence or malfeasance for the reports; the committee found evidence that both were aware that at least one of the loans was fictitious as Santos had informed her by text that he did not have enough money in his bank account at the time to make the loan.[188]
By 2022, he said he was worth between $2.5 and $11 million, including $1–5 million in personal bank accounts, a Rio condominium valued between $500,000 and $1 million, and business interests accounting for the rest. He reported no real property in the U.S., at odds with past claims that he owned two mansions on Long Island, one of which, in the Hamptons, he had reportedly told fellow Republicans he was selling for around $10 million because he rarely used it (the Leader reported that at the time, someone with no connection to Santos owned it, and it was valued at $2 million).[92] In 2023, the House Ethics Committee noted that the 2022 form did not disclose Santos's Harbor City salary, the unemployment benefits he had received while working for Harbor City, and $20,000 he had made in stock trades, all during 2021.[189]
A $600,000 loan Santos had reported making to his campaign earlier in the year on his required campaign financial disclosure forms was not listed as a liability on his personal forms, even as he had disclosed a $20,000–50,000 car loan he took out for the Nissan he drove.[r] Federal prosecutors later said Marks told them that loan had been fictitious.[190] Santos said later that the loan was real and he had been the source; he said it was made in September and October 2022 and could not explain why Marks had recorded the transaction as having taken place six months earlier.[179][s] He claimed no income.[92]
Bank records obtained by the Ethics Committee showed that Santos did indeed loan his campaign $715,000 in five installments from his personal savings account and Devolder's checking account over a period of almost a month throughout September and October 2022. The loan followed $800,000 in payments to Santos and two companies he owned or controlled. While the payments appeared to relate to legitimate business activity, the committee believed the "timing, amounts and other circumstances of the payments" raised the possibility that they were in fact meant to benefit Santos's campaign and would, if so, be illegal campaign contributions. It did not investigate further since the Department of Justice asked it not to.[191]
In July 2023 his campaign reported repaying Santos $85,000, more than half the money he had raised during the second quarter of the year, and said he was still owed $530,000.[192] In a later interview, Santos said he was able to take advantage of a network of around 15,000 "wealthy investors, family offices, 'institutions' and endowments" after leaving Harbor City Capital and forming Devolder Organization LLC to get contracts worth several million dollars. "If you're looking at a $20 million yacht, my referral fee there can be anywhere between $200,000 and $400,000", he said. He did not identify any of his clients when asked to do so.[71]
In March 2023, it was reported that Santos had brokered the sale of a yacht the previous October, around the time of the loans, just before the election, between two of his major campaign contributors. He had negotiated the sale of the 141-foot (43 m) Namaste, with cabins for 12 guests and seven crew plus a waterfall, infinity pool, and outdoor shower, for $19 million. The seller was a Florida lawyer whose wife had given over $10,000 to one of Santos's campaign committees, the buyer was a Long Island car dealer who has given $17,000 to Santos's committees (the man's former wives also gave $10,000). It is not known how much Santos received as a commission on the deal. The transaction is not itself illegal, but the timing and participants could suggest an effort to circumvent campaign finance limits or condition his services on receipt of campaign contributions, each of which would be criminal. Federal and state authorities are investigating the circumstances.[193] Santos's lawyer later said he was not involved in the sale in any way.[194]
After spending more money than he raised in the first quarter of 2023, Santos reported receiving $133,000 during the second quarter, a low amount for a candidate in a swing district at this point in the cycle and considerably less than his challengers in both parties had raised, much less than other Republican freshman incumbents in the region. All but four named donors were from outside the 3rd district; many were from California. Donors who reported their occupations as "part-time cashier" or "student" gave $3,300 each. Many had never made political contributions before. A large group had Chinese or Asian last names; they told the Times that they were supportive of Santos's opposition to the CCP,[195] and were also supporters of indicted exiled Chinese billionaire Miles Guo, whom Santos has defended.[196] Others said they made the donations as a joke or because they admired his conservative voting record.[195]
Santos was granted a 90-day extension on the deadline to file his 2023 financial disclosure. He had still not filed it by August, when it expired, a lapse which could lead to fines against him from the House Ethics Committee.[197] In September, when the 30-day grace period expired and Santos had still not filed it, he said he would "rather be late, accurate, and pay the fine than be on time, inaccurate, and suffer the consequences of a rushed job." He said that since he had until November to file his amended 2022 income tax return, it was preferable to wait until then to make sure the information on both forms was consistent.[198]
The Ethics Committee obtained a copy of that tax return, filed shortly before its investigative subcommittee completed its report. On it, Santos claimed no income, rather a loss of over $70,000, for 2021, mostly due to Devolder losing over $90,000, which, it said, "bears no relationship to the company's actual finances for 2021." The loss instead appeared to be derived from transactions the following year. Santos's negative income also conflicts with credit card applications he filled out during 2021 claiming over $100,000 in annual income.[189] As for Santos's personal financial disclosure for 2023, the committee noted that while he had paid the $200 late fee, as of the release of the report in mid-November he was the only member of Congress not to have done so for that year. He had also not filed amended 2021 and 2022 reports despite the errors and omissions the committee had brought to his attention. "These were not inadvertent lapses, but major errors and omissions, and the evidence compiled by the ISC demonstrates that they were knowing and willful actions as part of an ongoing ruse by Representative Santos to fabricate a wealthy persona", the committee wrote, pointing out that neither Santos nor his staff had logged into the computer system for filing reports since he had requested an extension in May. In addition to violations of House rules and the relevant federal laws, the committee added, these failures also constituted violations of tax law and regulations.[199]
The campaign nonetheless filed its third-quarter report in mid-October. It reported having refunded $17,000 in contributions while receiving $674 over the 90 days ending September 30, a very low sum for a campaign in a swing district where multiple challengers have been raising money a year in advance of the election. Expenditures came to $42,000, leaving the campaign with $23,000 on hand. It also reported $120,000 in new debt, which a note from the treasurer indicated appeared to have predated that reporting period.[121]
Campaign spending
During his campaign, Santos spent prodigiously; he used campaign funds to pay for shirts for staff from Brooks Brothers, meals at the restaurant at the Bergdorf Goodman department store, and $40,000 in airline fares, including to locations in California, Texas and Florida, and a stay at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida,[2] part of $30,000 in hotel bills, $14,000 paid to car services,[200] and an equivalent sum spent at a Queens restaurant.[201] That much airfare, the Times later noted, is far more than most candidates spend on their first election and closer to the amounts spent by party leaders who have served in Congress for years. Two campaign aides told the Times that staff were increasingly concerned during the campaign that Santos was more interested in spending the $3 million raised for the race "frivolously" than on winning the election.[175] The October 2023 indictment suggests that at least $11,000 in spending on luxury items was money obtained through credit card fraud and identity theft, by Santos allegedly using donors' credit card information without their knowledge or consent, representing himself as them, and diverting those funds to a company he controlled.[202]
The House Ethics Committee found several instances of apparent personal spending during and after the campaign that was not reported to the FEC. In February 2022 he had spent $1,700 at two Atlantic City casinos, $1,500 at a pet store, and smaller amounts on JetBlue, various retailers and the Adventureland amusement park in East Farmingdale on Long Island. A July hotel bill in excess of $3,000 was reported, but conflicts with Santos's personal calendar showing he was elsewhere at the time and not doing any campaigning. Charges for a taxi and hotel in Las Vegas were made to the campaign during a time when Santos said he was there for his honeymoon. At the end of November, following his election victory, Santos's campaign wired him $20,000, which also went unrecorded. He spent $6,000 of it at Ferragamo, withdrew $1,000 in cash from a Queens ATM and, later, $800 at a casino. Other money was used to pay his rent.[187]
Santos's campaign finance reports listed a company called "Cleaner 123" as receiving $11,000 over four months in rent for campaign staff housing in the district. Neighbors of the house said that Santos and his partner appeared to have been living there during that time.[175]
Donations to other candidates
Santos's campaign and GADS PAC reported making a combined $180,000 in contributions to other Republican campaigns. A review by the Times of those other campaigns' financial reports found many instances where their reports and Santos's reports did not match.[203]
The PAC reported making two $2,900 donations to Michelle Bond's unsuccessful primary campaign for the Republican nomination in the neighboring 1st district. Her campaign's reports show a single donation of $5,000, $800 less than Santos's PAC reported. The PAC's donations to Blake Masters's unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate in Arizona are acknowledged by the recipient, but a subsequent $2,000 from Santos's campaign committee is not, and the Masters campaign says it can find no records of it. The address Santos's campaign gave for that contribution, like some of the donations Santos reported, was apparently fictitious, this one in the Florida Panhandle.[203]
This pattern also extended to Republican candidates for state office. Disclosure reports for those campaigns on file with the New York State Board of Elections in Albany show over 20 donations to them from Santos's campaign and his PACs during the 2020–22 election cycle. There are no corresponding reports of those donations on Santos's and GADS PAC's FEC filings.[203]
Politico later looked at Santos's 2020 campaign finance reports, and found similar discrepancies in both state and federal reports. Shortly after being formed in 2019, Santos's campaign committee made its first donations, $9,000 total, to Trump's presidential campaign committee and two local Republican organizations. The first, at $2,800, is not reported in the Trump campaign's filings and exceeds the cycle limit for contributions from one campaign to another. The second is to the "Town of Oyster Bay Republican Club", a nonexistent entity. The New York state records of two Republican organizations that do use the town's name show no contributions from Santos. Similarly, a $2,000 contribution to the Nassau County Republican Committee is not reflected on that organization's records. "It's impossible to believe that all three of these political committees independently lost track of political donations from Santos's campaign during this period", a campaign finance lawyer the website spoke to said.[204]
In April 2023, Texas Representative Beth Van Duyne reported that her campaign had never received its share of a JFC created for a fundraiser held with Santos in July 2022. In a report filed by its treasurer, Nancy Marks, the JFC reported raising $11,600. Around $2,000 was spent on the event, at a Garden City, New York, restaurant; the rest was, according to the report, divided evenly between the two campaigns, with each receiving almost $5,000. A spokesman for the Van Duyne campaign said that money was never disbursed to them and that it will not hold further fundraisers with Santos through it. Santos's campaign had no comment.[205]
Campaign finance lawyer Brett Kappel speculated that the failure to share the money might indicate that Santos's campaign was using the JFC to evade campaign contribution limits. He noted that two contributors gave a combined $5,800 to it in August, equal to the amount they had already contributed directly, the legal maximum, to Santos's campaign. There could be more innocent explanations, Kappel allowed, such as the check getting lost in the mail, but in that case, the campaign treasurers should have long ago resolved that. He also noted that although Santos's campaign treasurers had both filed termination reports with respect to the JFC earlier in 2023, the FEC had not obliged by mid-April, suggesting that the JFC may be the subject of complaints to the commission.[205]
Unitemized expenses
In a later article, the Times noted that Santos's campaign spent more than $5,000 on flights to and hotel stays in Washington and West Palm Beach, Florida, for Republican fundraisers in the first quarter of 2021, a time when the next congressional election was almost two years away and he had no primary challenger. By the end of the year, Santos's reported expenses for those trips had reached $90,000 and had become more lavish, with hundreds of dollars spent on transportation, hotels, and food around the country.[203]
In early 2022, the campaign filed amended reports. Among the changes made were upward adjustments to some of the expenses he had reported at the end of 2021. A $60 meal at a Michigan sushi restaurant was now reported as having cost $199.99, along with three additional expenses of that exact amount on that date. Five previously reported Uber and taxi rides went from $267 total to $445. A subsequent amended report, in May, reported no transactions on the date to which the sushi dinner had previously been attributed.[203]
Santos's campaign financial disclosures went on to include many other expenses of $199.99—one cent below the $200 threshold at which campaigns are legally required to provide receipts and disclose recipients.[175][206] An election law expert the Times talked to suggested that this could indicate awareness of the law and intent to violate it.[175][t] One of those expenses was for a Miami hotel where rooms rarely rent for under $600 a night.[208] The Times later reported that other Miami businesses where the campaign reported spending money could not find receipts for those amounts or said the expenses did not reflect the prices of the products allegedly purchased.[209]
Politico later compared Santos's campaign reports to other congressional campaigns that spent similar total amounts, and found that only nine percent of them had recorded any expenses in the $199–200 range. Most of those were to the videoconferencing service Zoom, which offers a business plan for $199.90. Of 4,300 campaigns that filed reports during the cycle, only 25 reported any expenses of exactly $199.99; of those, the most times that amount was claimed was four, while Santos's campaign claimed it 37 times. Politico called this "a statistical improbability".[208]
The Times noted that the $199.99 transactions reached a total of 1,200 separate payments in Santos's early 2022 amended report, totaling over $250,000. They were still in the amended report from May of that year, which had removed the larger sushi-dinner bill and taxi expenditures. By the end of the campaign, the total unitemized expenditures had exceeded $365,000, 12 percent of his total campaign expenses and six times that of any other member of Congress from New York. Since federal election regulations require that campaigns itemize all transactions with a particular vendor once the amount exceeds $200, the Times calculated that Santos's campaign would have to have done business with over 1,800 separate concerns for all the unitemized transactions to be lawfully reported as such. His campaign lists 270. An expert at the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) said the campaign's reporting was "so ludicrous that it's completely wrong" and suggested the campaign was covering up its actual expenses.[203]
Santos suggested in a subsequent interview that the recurrences of "$199.99" could have been clerical errors that could be "rectified if there is any discrepancy."[210]
Il Bacco restaurant
During his two congressional runs in 2020 and 2022, Santos reported having spent over $25,000 at Il Bacco, an eatery popular for New York City Republican events;[206] he had also entertained prospective Harbor City clients there.[68] Santos's 2022 campaign reports owing Il Bacco nearly $19,000 for its election night victory party, in addition to seven of the instances where the campaign had reported spending exactly $199.99.[206]
Santos appointed Il Bacco's owner, Giuseppe "Joe" Oppedisano,[211] along with his daughter, the restaurant's manager, to his campaign's "Small Business for Santos" Coalition; Oppedisano in turn donated $6,500 to his campaign and its associated PACs. Oppedisano's brother Rocco also gave Santos's campaign $500. Because Rocco[212] is not a U.S. citizen and his permanent resident status was revoked after guns and drugs were seized from his properties in 2009, he cannot legally make campaign contributions.[206]
Political action committee
In July 2021, Santos loaned GADS PAC $25,000, five times what it had on hand at the time; the next day, the PAC donated the same amount to the campaign of Lee Zeldin, a Republican congressman from Long Island who became the party's gubernatorial nominee in 2022. Starting in April 2022, GADS PAC, by then flush with donations from Santos supporters, repaid him in four installments over the next two months. Effectively, Santos had arranged for his campaign contributors to repay the loan. At the time these were reported, Robert Maguire, an expert on the subject at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), found several aspects of the transaction "extremely strange", including Santos's loan to a PAC (rather than his campaign committee, as is more typical) and his establishment of a leadership PAC for himself before even being elected to Congress (such PACs are used by party leaders and committee chairs or ranking members, to support colleagues).[84]
The House Ethics Committee examined Santos's bank records, as well as GADS PAC's, and found that neither the 2021 loan nor one for $2,000 supposedly made to it by Santos a year later were recorded there. Similarly, none of the $30,000 in repayments to Santos were actually made. Almost half that money was given to another New York political committee; neither it nor GADS PAC reported the transaction to the FEC.[213]
FEC investigations
During 2021–22, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) wrote over 20 letters to Santos's campaign about problems with its disclosure reports. Fourteen concerned either contributors who had apparently exceeded the $2,900 per cycle limit and insufficient information on the terms and any co-guarantors or collateral of loans to the campaign. Some original reports also unlawfully described contributions as coming from anonymous donors. The campaign responded with amended reports, ultimately filing 36 in total[203] for the 10 periods in which reports were required.[214]
In December 2022, the FEC wrote to Marks, then Santos's campaign treasurer, about the same problems, as well as other potential violations, including contributions from apparent political organizations not registered with the commission and insufficient disclosures regarding other contributions, such as the 48-hour notice required for contributions of more than $1,000 during the last 20 days before the election, after the last required report has been filed. The campaign had until January 24, 2023, to correct those violations by filing an amended report listing all required information and any corrective actions taken, such as returning the excess funds or applying them to a different candidate or cycle.[215] Santos's attorney denied that the Santos campaign "engaged in any unlawful spending of campaign funds".[216]
Also in January 2023, the CLC filed a complaint with the FEC over the Santos campaign's apparent violations. The complaint alleged that Santos used campaign funds to pay personal expenses; concealed the source of $700,000 he had given his campaign; and falsified campaign expenditures.[217] End Citizens United (ECU) filed separate complaints with the FEC, Department of Justice, and Office of Congressional Ethics.[218] Accountable.US filed an additional FEC complaint by the end of the week, alleging over $100,000 in contributions over the limit.[219]
On January 24, the campaign filed amended reports with the FEC addressing the concerns it raised. The amendments largely consisted of unchecking the boxes that said two loans to the campaign, including the $750,000, had come from Santos's personal funds and did not provide required explanations of who had lent the campaign the money. Other loans, in earlier reports that were amended, were still marked as having come from Santos. Campaign finance experts to whom the Times spoke said that was very unusual, as was the number of times the Santos campaign had to file amended reports.[220] In a mid-February interview, Santos said the money had come from his own finances and "I continue to not understand why there is this enormous inquisition and inquiry into my business practices and the legitimacy of it."[210]
On January 27, it was reported that the Justice Department asked the FEC to suspend its probe while federal prosecutors conduct a parallel criminal investigation.[221] Also on January 27, five members of the House requested that the Attorney General open an investigation into violations of campaign law and the Foreign Agent Registration Act.[222] Four days later, the campaign filed year-end reports signed by a third treasurer, including a resignation letter from Marks dated January 25, although her signature remained on some reports dated later. There was also no paperwork from the campaign confirming the new treasurer's hiring.[209] The position was offered to Thomas Datwyler, who refused the job. On January 27, Datwyler requested the FEC to refer the situation to the "appropriate law enforcement agency to determine whether a crime has occurred."[223]
At the end of January, ECU filed another FEC complaint against the Santos campaign. It pointed to $260,000 it had raised after the 2020 election as a recount fund. New York allows for recounts at public expense when the margin is close, but Santos lost that election by a much wider margin, and the state does not allow candidates to request recounts even if they are willing to pay for them. The recount fund was thus unnecessary, but it reported paying several workers to observe the nonexistent recount. ECU also noted that several expenses appear to be duplicates of those the campaign reported before the election. Asked about amended campaign reports and the true source of the loan, Santos said that he "didn't touch any of my FEC stuff" and that "Every campaign hires fiduciaries."[209]
In February, the FEC informed Santos that, as in 2021, according to its records his campaign had raised more than $5,000 without any outstanding debts, thereby making him a candidate in the 2024 elections. It gave him until March 14 to declare whether he would be a candidate then;[224] on that day, Santos formally filed a statement with it that he would be.[103]
Campaign treasurer
The campaign's amended reports from late January 2023 also listed a new campaign treasurer, Thomas Datwyler, who had worked in that capacity for Josh Mandel's 2022 campaign for the Ohio U.S. Senate seat later won by J. D. Vance until he was replaced because of what the campaign told the FEC were "a stunning number of inexplicable reporting errors". Santos's chief of staff had also worked for Mandel's campaign.[225] Datwyler said he had nothing to do with the Santos campaign beyond declining the job,[226] and that someone else had signed his name to the filings.[227] The FEC sent another letter to the Santos campaign asking for clarification of the issue.[226]
In mid-February, the FEC gave Santos's campaign until March 14 to name a new treasurer or it would be suspended from raising or spending money until it did.[228] A week later, the campaign reported it had hired a new treasurer, Andrew Olson, who gave the same Elmhurst address that Santos had when he ran for office,[229] and where Tiffany Santos had lived until mid-January after she settled an eviction case with the landlord. Businesses on the building's ground floor told CNN they knew no person by that name working at that address. "I've never seen this before: Having a complete mystery as a treasurer for a sitting member of Congress", said CREW's Jordan Libowitz.[230]
Olson had never worked for any other campaign and did not give a phone number on the form.[231] Local Republican officials had never heard of him either.[230] The form also incorrectly described the committee as a national committee of the Republican Party. Campaign finance lawyer Brett Kappel called that a "mind-boggling" mistake. "I was frankly shocked that someone would file that in this situation".[232]
The Daily Beast reported in October 2023 that Olson did in fact exist, but was, according to Santos, agreed by him and Datwyler, a longtime friend and business associate of Olson's, to be a front for Datwyler, as he may have done for other Republican campaigns that have drawn regulatory scrutiny at the state level. During Olson's apparent tenure as treasurer, monthly payments from the campaign to the Detroit law firm Dickinson Wright, where prominent Republican lawyer Charlie Spies is a partner, for legal and political consulting that had remained relatively small stopped being reported, although Spies seems to have continued working for Santos. After Olson's departure, his replacement reported paying $20,000 of $90,000 owed to Dickinson, a debt he had learned of since taking the job that had not apparently been previously reported. the address given for the firm was a Wisconsin post office box used by Datwyler's consultancy. A campaign-finance expert speculated to the Beast that the Dickinson Wright payments might in fact be an effort to pay Datwyler for actually performing as the campaign's treasurer.[233] Datwyler's lawyer, who had previously disavowed any connection between his client and the Santos campaign and demanded the FEC investigate how Datwyler's name came to be used on some of Santos's filings, told the FEC later in the month when he withdrew the allegations that Datwyler may not have been truthful with him and he was reconsidering his representation.[234]
In late May 2023, after he was indicted, Santos made a new FEC filing listing himself as treasurer. This is legal, but candidates rarely do it.[235] In a filing a day later he announced that he had hired Jason D. Boles, previously a campaign treasurer for House representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.[236] Four days later CREW filed another complaint with the FEC over the campaign's changes in treasurer in the preceding months, alleging that Datwyler's electronic signature had been forged and that Olson was entirely fictitious. It also sent a copy of the complaint to Peace, the head of the Justice Department's criminal division, and the director of the New York FBI office.[237]
Alleged use of fictitious donors and donations
Mother Jones reporters found in late January 2023 that many contributions to Santos's 2020 campaign were from people whose names and addresses were fictitious or nonexistent, all reported as having given through WinRed, an online processor of small-donor contributions for Republicans. Some were from real people who denied having donated the amount claimed. These accounted for 12 donations totaling $30,000 of the $338,000 Santos reported raising from individual contributors. Nine of those donors were among the 45 listed as having given Santos the maximum allowed under law for both the primary and general cycles.[223] The magazine later found that relatives of Santos in Queens who had been reported to have given his campaign over $45,000 denied having made those donations; one said he could not have afforded the amount.[238]
As part of its investigation into the $365,000 in unitemized campaign expenditures, the Times found some Santos donors who said they were reported to have given more than the legal limit and more than their own records showed, sometimes in ways that suggested an attempt to make the contributions appear legal. One donor said the $20,000 the campaign reported he gave ($7,000 more than his records showed in contributions to Santos and related organizations) was in 24 separate transactions, all of which used his former address but different versions of his name, and incorrectly claimed he had a spouse.[203]
Federal prosecutors later said Marks had told them she made up contributions from members of Santos's family and hers in 2021 so the campaign could appear to have raised more than $250,000 from third parties in the third quarter of that year. By doing so the campaign qualified for financial and logistical assistance from the Republican National Committee (RNC).[190] Those numbers also helped dissuade other candidates from entering the race for the nomination.[239] Shortly after Marks's guilty plea Santos was indicted on charges related to the scheme.[202]
Alleged credit card fraud and misuse of WinRed
TPM reported on a contributor to Santos's 2020 campaign who had, after repeated contacts and an assurance from Zeldin's campaign staff that Santos was a credible candidate, given $1,000 by credit card, over the phone. They decided not to contribute to Santos after that but found their credit card bill recording additional donations to Santos through WinRed during 2021 and 2022, almost $15,000 total, some of which exceeded cycle limits. WinRed, which has been accused of signing donors up for recurring contributions they never agreed to, was unable to find any record of those transactions and eventually refunded $2,000 to them, which the Santos campaign FEC filings do report. The donor, who does not believe the charges were accidental since they were for different amounts, was ultimately given a full refund by American Express.[240]
In August and September 2021 the donor told TPM that their card had also been used to make two unauthorized contributions of the $2,900 maximum to Tina Forte, the Republican challenger to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the district neighboring Santos's, whom they had never heard of. They were not the only donor to experience this. One woman who gave Forte $25 through WinRed found the next day that her card had been charged $5,800, an amount more than 10 times any donation she had ever made through the site; she received a full refund the next day.[240]
In July 2023 Jen Remauro, Forte's campaign manager, told the Times that she believed Red Strategies USA, the consulting firm (partly owned by Santos) that the campaign had hired, had inflated fees charged by WinRed in its reports. Two years earlier, Forte's campaign had raised $42,000 in the preceding quarter, an amount greatly reduced by the $35,000 Red Strategies reported paying to WinRed in "credit card fees". Remauro knew that WinRed charged only four percent per transaction, and thus for Forte's campaign to owe that much it would have to have raised over $800,000. The next quarter, the pattern continued, with Red Strategies paying WinRed $51,000 out of the $86,000 raised. After Remauro complained, the filings were amended in October 2021 to show a payment of $6,200. Santos's lawyer Murray blamed those errors on Marks, Santos's former campaign treasurer, and said his client regretted ever having done business with her.[194]
NBC News found a similar discrepancy related to the Santos campaign's own use of WinRed.[241] The platform charges a standard 3.94 percent fee for processing contributions. WinRed reported handling almost $800,000 in contributions for Santos, so the Times calculated that the campaign should have paid WinRed around $33,000. Instead, the campaign reports having paid WinRed $206,000, leaving $173,000 unaccounted for.[203] Similarly, NBC calculated that for Santos's campaign to have actually owed that money, it would have had to have raised $5.2 million through WinRed; it reported raising $1.7 million in total individual contributions from all sources.[241]
The discrepancy might just have been the mistaken inclusion of fees paid to outside vendors through WinRed, a practice the platform explicitly warns against. Kappel told NBC that "the treasurer [seems to have had] access to little, if any, supporting documentation" when preparing Santos's FEC reports. "[This] might merely be another example of the campaign's poor accounting practices."[241]
The October 2023 superseding indictment alleges a scheme involving the unauthorized use of donor credit cards to make contributions without identifying the donors involved or explaining how the campaign obtained their credit information. It charges Santos with aggravated identity theft, access device fraud and credit card fraud, all felonies.[202] When Santos consultant Sam Miele pleaded guilty to wire fraud a month later, he admitted to conduct he had not been charged for, where he had used donors' credit cards without their permission and misrepresented to donors how the money raised would be spent, over the previous three years. One of the latter donors gave the campaign $470,000.[242]
In a letter to his colleagues the day Santos was expelled from the House, a fellow Republican, Max Miller of Ohio, alleged that Santos had used his and his mother's credit card information to make unauthorized illegally large campaign contributions. Miller said he had to spend thousands of dollars on lawyers to rectify the situation, and called Santos a "crook" on the House floor. He said also in his letter that he had seen a list of 400 people, including some other Republican congressmembers, similarly defrauded by Santos.[243]
Misrepresentations in fundraising
Santos's campaign paid $50,000 in fees to Miele, who had called Republican donors falsely claiming to be then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's chief of staff and asking them to support Santos.[77] In mid-January 2023, McCarthy said though he had "some questions about it", he had "no idea" about the falsity of Santos's résumé when he ran, nor that Miele had posed as McCarthy's chief of staff, Dan Meyer.[244][245] Some contributors to the Santos campaign said they were motivated to give to him because of his supposed Wall Street experience or his claim to be Jewish, both later found to be fictitious, and felt cheated in the wake of those disclosures.[244] Following an August indictment on charges of wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering,[246] Miele pleaded guilty in November to one count of wire fraud; his lawyer would not say whether he had agreed to testify against Santos.[242]
Red Strategies and RedStone Strategies
RedStone Strategies, a super PAC supporting Santos in the race that told potential donors a month before the election that it had raised $800,000 and was seeking to raise another $700,000, did not register with the FEC as a campaign organization. It was thus not known who donated to RedStone or ran it; the Devolder Organization and Jayson Benoit, one of Santos's former Harbor City coworkers who lived at and owned the Merritt Island address,[64] were listed as officers of a similarly named concern in Florida records. There is no record that RedStone spent any money on advertising in support of Santos. It also described itself as a 501(c)(4) organization, which means that while it can spend on political advocacy as long as that is not its primary purpose, it cannot support candidates directly.[201]
RedStone received $110,000 in a series of 76 payments over 2021 from Tina Forte's campaign, whose treasurer was the same former Harbor City coworker of Santos's and a co-owner of RedStone along with Marks and the Devolder Organization. Forte's campaign's FEC reports have some issues as well, such as many unnamed donors and $14,000 in reimbursements to the candidate for unnamed personal expenses, along with the allegations from donors of unauthorized credit charges via WinRed.[240]
Demauro, Forte's campaign manager, said that Santos recommended that they hire the similarly-named Red Strategies USA as a consultant in 2021 without disclosing that he had an interest in the firm, and even seemed to have pretended to be meeting its principals, former Harbor Hill associates, for the first time along with Demauro. The agreement between the campaign and Red Strategies called for the firm to keep 80 percent of any funds it raised, an amount Demauro believes the campaign was trying to obfuscate with its initially inflated statements of WinRed credit card fees. She recalls that Marks, the campaign treasurer, repeatedly ignored her requests for bank and account statements; her own paychecks were frequently late.[194]
The House Ethics Committee reported that a witness identified as working for the Forte campaign[u] confronted Santos in December 2021 about his failure to disclose his interest in Red Strategies. The witness noted that Santos's name was on the incorporation papers filed in May (it was actually the Devolder Organization). Santos responded that he had merely bought into the company in August.[247]
RedStone Strategies was formed in November 2021 following complaints from the Forte campaign about Red Strategies. Santos represented himself as its "managing partner" in signing one contract with another vendor; he also used a RedStone email address in his capital introduction work. During 2022 RedStone paid Santos at least $200,000;[v] an October payment of $50,000 was used by Santos over the next month to spend over $4,000 at Hermés, pay for some OnlyFans subscriptions and pay his rent and credit card debts.[249]
On October 5, 2023, Marks pleaded guilty in a federal court in Long Island to numerous campaign finance violations. Her plea agreement recommends she serve between 42 months to four years in federal prison.[250] Santos was indicted five days later on charges of wire fraud related to the diversion of funds to RedStone under the pretense that it was to buy television advertising when in fact none of it was, or could have been.[202]
Rise NY
In late 2020, after Santos had lost the election to Suozzi,[251] Marks and Tiffany Santos established a PAC called Rise NY, which paid RedStone $6,000 in April 2022. It later raised money from many Santos donors who had exceeded the $2,900 limit for direct campaign contributions. PACs are allowed to make unlimited contributions to candidates and parties, but cannot coordinate efforts with campaigns. Rise NY's Twitter account posted accounts of voter registration events and rallies it claimed to have organized during the campaign; Rise NY reported paying salaries to some Santos campaign staff, $10,000 to a company Marks runs, and a $20,000 salary to Tiffany Santos. It also reported multiple expenditures at Il Bacco, the Queens Italian restaurant where Santos's 2022 campaign spent $14,000, and at a gas station near Santos's Whitestone apartment.[201][w] Newsday reported later that, for two months in 2021, Rise made Santos's $2,600 rent payments, and it later paid $1,800 for three tickets for Santos and two guests to attend a gala sponsored by the Liberty Education Forum, a group the PAC gave over $50,000. It also reported $6,500 in payments to Santos.[251]
The House Ethics Committee, in reviewing bank records for Rise, RedStone and Santos's businesses, found "numerous unreported transfers to and from the campaign bank account" during 2022. Some went to other accounts under Marks's control, $10,000 to the Devolder Organization, and $50,000 went between Rise and the campaign, in amounts exceeding $20,000 at one point.[253]
Andrew Intrater, the financier who had lost most of the $625,000 Santos persuaded him to invest in Harbor City, said his $175,000 contribution to Rise NY was underreported to the state by $95,000 until a later amended report.[203] Later he learned that his contributions had amounted to 40 percent of the organization's funding.[254] A $25,000 donation he made to RedStone Strategies, purportedly for a large television ad buy, was never reported to the FEC because RedStone had never registered with it.[203]
Mother Jones reported at the end of February 2023 that despite no official connection to Rise, Santos regularly solicited contributions to it and in some cases personally delivered checks from it, including two for $62,500 each to the Nassau County and Town of Hempstead Republican committees, suggesting that he had some role with Rise.[x] In late 2021, over $55,000 Santos raised by telling donors the money would be used to register voters was diverted to Outspoken Middle East, an LGBTQ-themed news platform aimed at that region of the world.[254]
Outspoken founder Charles Moran said he had approached Santos asking for financial help; since the contribution was legal for Rise to have made, he accepted it. Former ambassador Richard Grenell was also involved with starting Outspoken; he spoke at a Santos fundraiser around the same time and formally endorsed Santos in July 2022. Intrater told Mother Jones that he had only learned from them about the diversion and that Santos had told him repeatedly during 2021 that contributions to Rise were being spent to build the Republican Party in New York.[254]
Investigations and legal issues
House Ethics Committee
In January 2023, Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman, House Democrats from New York, filed an ethics complaint with the House Ethics Committee over Santos's financial disclosure reports. In March, the House Ethics Committee announced a formal inquiry and created a subcommittee to investigate allegations of having failed to provide proper financial disclosures to the House, sexual misconduct, and conflict of interest.[256]
In June, the committee announced that it was expanding its investigation to cover the unemployment fraud alleged in the May 2023 federal indictment of Santos.[257] It announced that it had sought the voluntary cooperation of about 40 witnesses and subpoenaed 30 others.[258]
Two months later, Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the most senior Democrat in the House and a former member of the party's leadership, wrote the Ethics Committee asking they make public whatever they had found so far about Santos. "More than enough time has passed for the [committee] to conduct a fair and accurate assessment of the veracity of the allegations against Rep. Santos and of the scope of his misconduct", he said.[259]
On November 16, the Ethics Committee released its Investigative Subcommittee's report, accusing Santos of fraud similar to those he had already been criminally charged with,[260] such as diverting campaign funds for personal use, as well as money raised for RedStone Strategies that donors were told would be used on campaigns. The subcommittee listed some of those personal purposes, including over $4,000 to Hermés, plastic surgery and Botox, payments of personal credit card bills and other debts, travel to Atlantic City and Las Vegas that had no campaign purpose, and a small amount on OnlyFans subscriptions. In a news release accompanying the report, the committee said "[it]s investigation revealed a complex web of unlawful activity involving Representative Santos's campaign, personal, and business finances ... [He] sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit." It believed "there was substantial evidence that Representative Santos violated federal criminal laws, some of which are the subject of the pending charges filed against him in court."[261] Santos subsequently announced he would not run for reelection, although he would remain in Congress for the rest of his term. He called the report "a disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk."[106]
Expulsion resolutions
In May 2023, after Santos was indicted on federal charges, Robert Garcia and other House Democrats introduced a resolution to expel Santos from the House, which requires a two-thirds vote, or 290 votes, in favor. Because an expulsion motion is privileged, the Republican House leadership was required to either schedule a vote within two legislative days, table the proposal or refer it to the Ethics Committee. They introduced a motion to send the resolution to the Ethics Committee.[262][115] The House approved the motion by 221–204 along party lines; seven Democrats voted "present".[115] After Santos was indicted on additional charges in October, D'Esposito introduced a second expulsion resolution, cosponsored by the other five Republican House freshmen from New York.[263] After Rep. Mike Johnson was elected Speaker, the sponsors moved to force a floor vote on the resolution.[264]
On November 1, the expulsion motion failed 213–179, with 19 voting present. Support was mostly from Democrats, joined by 24 Republicans, while 31 Democrats joined Republicans in opposing. California Rep. Katie Porter, one of those 31, believed that it was wrong to expel Santos before his case had been disposed in the courts. Santos said the result was a victory for due process and dismissed the resolution as a political stunt by his colleagues anxious about their re-election prospects in 2024.[265]
In the wake of the Ethics Committee's report on Santos two weeks later, Garcia announced he would introduce another expulsion resolution, with the expectation that it would be voted on after the Thanksgiving recess. It was seen as possible that some of the representatives who had voted against expelling Santos previously would reconsider their positions in the wake of the report. One, Maryland Democrat Jamie Raskin, said he would vote to expel, as "[t]he report's findings are extremely damning".[106]
Rep. Michael Guest, chair of the Ethics Committee, introduced an expulsion resolution of his own after the report was released.[266] Over the holiday recess, Santos said on an X Space that he expected to be expelled the following week when Congress returned.[267] He said he would "wear it like a badge of honor", called Guest a "pussy" and said that no one from Mississippi was going to push a New Yorker out of Congress. Santos said it was hypocritical of the House to expel him.[268]
On December 1, the House voted to expel Santos, 311–114.[269] Specifically, 206 Democrats and 105 Republicans voted for the resolution, with two Democrats[y] and 112 Republicans voting against his expulsion. Ten Representatives did not vote, with two voting present and the rest absent.[270] He is the sixth member of the House to be expelled, the only Republican, and the only member expelled without first being convicted of a federal crime or having supported the Confederacy.[271][272][273]
Brazilian check fraud charges
After obtaining his high school equivalency diploma, Santos spent time in Brazil. In 2008, he forged checks, stolen from a man his mother was caring for, to buy R$1,313 (about US$700) worth of clothing.[9] He gave his name as Délio.[40] When writing the checks, Santos presented identification bearing his photo but the check owner's name. The store owner became suspicious when the signatures on two checks did not match.[9] A few days later another young man came in to return one of the pairs; the store clerk, who had had to cover the loss, traced Santos through the man's Orkut profile.[40] Santos later admitted to the theft in a message to the clerk and confessed to police before he was charged with check fraud in 2010.[58][2] The case was archived by a Brazilian court in 2013 because authorities there were unable to locate Santos.[274][275]
In January 2023, Rio de Janeiro prosecutors announced that they would revive the fraud charges since they knew where Santos was.[10][274] In March 2023, prosecutors announced a plea bargain with Santos,[11] and in May 2023, Santos formally settled the bad check charges; under the agreement, agreeing to pay 24,000 Brazilian reais (almost US$5,000), with most compensating the defrauded salesman and the remainder donated to charity.[276]
Evictions and unpaid judgments
Santos was evicted from rented Queens properties (in Jackson Heights, Whitestone, and Sunnyside) three times in the mid-2010s over unpaid rent. Onetime roommate Yasser Rabello described moving into the first apartment in December 2013 after befriending Santos shortly after moving to the city. It had only two bedrooms and one bathroom; Santos shared it with his mother, sister, and later his boyfriend;[171] Roommate Morey-Parker recalls that eviction notices were sent every month.[12]
Santos signed a lease on a single-family house in Whitestone in 2014.[176][151] In 2023, his boyfriend, Pedro Vilarva, told the Times that he had dated Santos for several months before they moved in together; that Santos had claimed that he would get money from an investment he had done with Citigroup, so Vilarva paid most of the bills; and that Santos "never ever actually went to work".[58] The relationship soured in early 2015 when Vilarva stopped believing Santos's promises that he would pay for a trip to Hawaii in order to propose marriage.[277] After Vilarva came to believe Santos had taken his cell phone to pawn it, he searched the Internet for Santos's name and found the 2013 Brazilian charges against him, leading him to move out.[58]
Parizzi and her daughter also lived with Santos and Vilarva during that time. Their friendship likewise deteriorated after she accused Santos of having stolen jewelry from her. When she begged him to return it, he accused her of attempting to break him and Vilarva up. Eventually the Parizzis moved out of the house and into a homeless shelter, then back to Brazil when their money ran out.[40][z]
Santos remained in the house through November of that year, owing a month and a half's rent. His landlady filed for eviction, and he agreed to leave by December 24 and pay her $2,250 in back rent,[176] telling the court that his mother's illness had drastically impacted his ability to work but he would soon be able to repay the money from "business loans".[12] In mid-January 2016, he told Queens Housing Court, in a statement signed under oath, that he was robbed of the money on his way to pay the back rent, and that police were unable to take a report at the time, telling him to return later. There is no record he ever did.[176]
In Santos's third eviction case, in 2017, a Queens court entered a civil judgment of $12,208 against him.[2][279] Again, in housing court, he said he would seek emergency rental assistance.[12] Santos told the Post that his mother's illness had forced his family into debt at the time; as of December 2022 he had yet to pay the rent he owed, saying he "completely forgot about it".[136]
Friends of Pets United
Santos claimed to have rescued over 2,500 animals as founder and operator of a charity called Friends of Pets United (FOPU) from 2013 to 2018.[280] The claims are unsubstantiated; former volunteers and associates described the group as disorganized, and said that far fewer animals were saved.[280] FOPU never received non-profit tax-exempt status from the IRS, was not registered as a charity with the New York state government, and was not registered with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (as all rescue organizations in the state were required to do starting in September 2017). The contractor responsible for providing animal-related services to New York City said that it did not deal with FOPU, and the group was not authorized to take dogs from city shelters.[280] Santos said in December 2022 that he "was the guy picking up poop, cleaning, getting people, doing campaigns online" and that there was "a broader group of folks who helped out" FOPU; in February 2023, he said he "never handled the finances" of FOPU.[280]
A New Jersey rescue operator who said Santos had placed a few dogs legitimately with her help grew suspicious of him when he repeatedly claimed throughout 2018 to be closing his organization down and needing a location to place FOPU's last few dogs; the rescue operator said she conversed with a friend who worked in animal rescue who had shared similar experiences with Santos.[280]
Theft charges
In November 2017, Santos was charged with theft by deception in York County, Pennsylvania after regarding bad checks to an Amish dog breeder from his account. Days after he had given the breeder a $15,125 check for "puppies", Santos and FOPU hosted an adoption event at a pet store with a variety of purebred dogs. After the check bounced, the Pennsylvania charge was brought against him. Tiffany Bogosian, Santos's school friend from Queens, assisted in getting the charges dropped after he told her that his checkbook had been stolen in 2017 and he had received an extradition warrant from Pennsylvania at his New York address in 2020. She successfully argued that the signatures on the checks were not Santos's, and the case against Santos was dismissed in May 2021, after Santos ultimately paid the farmer who lodged the police report.[13][281][282][283] Santos's record was expunged in November 2021.[13]
In February 2023, The Washington Post reported that three other Amish dog breeders alleged that they did not file police reports against Santos and were never paid.[283]
Allegations of mishandling funds
In January 2023, retired U.S. Navy veteran Richard Osthoff and retired police officer Michael Boll accused Santos of having stolen funds donated to a GoFundMe fundraiser. In May 2016, Osthoff was homeless and was told that surgery to remove a life-threatening stomach tumor from his service dog would cost $3,000. A veterinary technician recommended that he contact the owner of FOPU, Anthony Devolder, one of Santos's aliases, who then set up a GoFundMe page. After the fundraiser had reached its goal of $3,000 in June, Santos closed it and withdrew the money. Osthoff, Boll, and GoFundMe received no funds, and the dog died in January 2017.[284][285][286] GoFundMe banned Santos, who had organized the fundraiser, at the end of 2016.[286] Santos denied swindling Osthoff;[287] in October 2023 he denied even knowing him to the Times, which reported having text messages suggesting otherwise.[179] The FBI is investigating Osthoff's allegations.[288]
The veterinary technician who had recommended Santos to Osthoff said that Santos later offered to raise funds to repair her farm in New Jersey so that it could be used for animal rescue.[280] FOPU held a 2017 fundraiser event, charging $50 per attendee, eventually raising $2,165, with Santos controlling the money.[280] The veterinary technician said that Santos was elusive and never gave her any of the proceeds, instead only giving excuses for not transferring the money.[2][280]
The owner of a Staten Island pet store told the Times that, after a successful series of fundraisers, Santos, whom the store owner knew under the name Anthony Devolder, asked him to make the check out to him personally rather than FOPU. The owner refused but later saw that on the payee line of the canceled check, FOPU had been crossed out and replaced with "Anthony Devolder".[280]
A pet rescue operator in the Bronx told the Times that after Santos had boasted of his Wall Street experience and connections to her to assure her he could raise thousands of dollars for her organization, he held a fundraiser in March 2017 and then sent her a check for $400. She stopped working with him, believing he was either overpromising or skimming.[280]
Parizzi believes that Santos stole cash from her inheritance on several occasions, despite his denials when confronted. She also said he later used her Brazilian tax information to buy jewelry on credit, never repaid her and threatened her physically. Santos and his sister deny these accusations.[40]
Credit-card skimming
CBS has reported that Santos's name came up in a 2017 international credit card skimming scheme perpetrated in Seattle by Brazilians. After Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha, a Brazilian living in Orlando, was arrested using a card skimmer at an automatic teller machine, a search of his car found an empty FedEx box with the return address of one of Santos's former residences in Winter Park,[289] which he was later reported to have jointly leased with Santos,[290] the same one given on a Florida traffic ticket issued to Santos in October 2016.[289] CBS later reported that two Secret Service agents interviewed Santos in New York; he voluntarily surrendered two of his cellphones to them. The case remains open, but as of February 2023 Santos has not been identified as a suspect.[291]
After the story was reported in 2023, Trelha made a sworn declaration to the FBI that he had committed the crime at the urging of Santos, who had also taught him how to set up the skimmer and camera necessary to steal passwords and how to clone ATM and credit cards. The two had an agreement to split the proceeds, Trelha said, but after his arrest Santos kept all the money for himself, reneging on a promise to hire a top defense lawyer and pay Trelha's bail. At the time he said he declined to tell federal authorities as Santos had threatened to report his Orlando roommates to immigration authorities as they were in the U.S. illegally.[292][aa]
Santos told reporters the day after Politico reported the declaration that he was innocent. "Never did anything of criminal activity, and I have no mastermind event." He said he had only met Trelha "a couple of times in my life" and that he had willingly assisted every law enforcement agency that contacted him: "Got information for them. Got everybody arrested and deported."[295]
Sexual harassment allegation
Also in February 2023, Derek Myers, the prospective staffer who secretly recorded Santos admitting "errors of judgment" in making some of his claims, filed a sexual harassment complaint against Santos with the House Ethics Committee, alleging Santos had touched his groin inappropriately while inviting him out to a karaoke bar and telling Myers that his husband was out of town. Myers also alleged that Santos had violated House rules by having him work as a volunteer for a week before his paperwork was processed.[296] Santos denied the allegation. In June, Myers told the Ethics Committee that he had gotten the job after sending seven payments of $150 each to Santos's director of operations.[297]
In its November report, the committee said it could not substantiate the allegation. Myers (unnamed in the report) had said the incident occurred while he and Santos were alone in the office going over mail from constituents. However, witnesses told the committee that staff did not want someone from outside the office going over mail, and that Santos had never been alone with Myers that day. The committee also noted inconsistencies in Myers's testimony to them, and his admission that after the incident he reported it to the FBI in the hope of collecting money as an informant.[298]
Federal indictment
In May 2023, a grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York indicted Santos on 13 criminal charges: seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. Prosecutors accused Santos of "three distinct schemes": fraudulent solicitation of political contributions, unemployment benefits fraud, and making false statements on the financial disclosure reports he submitted to the House of Representatives. In the fraudulent solicitation scheme, Santos allegedly persuaded two supporters to donate $25,000 each to a limited liability company controlled by him and then used the money for personal expenses. He told them it was a Super PAC and that the money would buy TV ads to support his campaign. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Santos also allegedly obtained a total of $24,000 in unemployment benefits from mid-2020 to April 2021 while drawing an annual salary of $120,000.[14][299]
At the arraignment on the day the indictment was unsealed, Santos pleaded not guilty and was granted pretrial release on a $500,000 bond with conditions, including surrendering his passport and restricting his travel to Long Island, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Afterwards, he told reporters that this was a "witch hunt" and that he was still running for reelection in 2024.[14][300][15]
Prosecutors turned over 80,000 pages of material to Santos's lawyers by June 2023.[301]
The names of the guarantors of Santos's $500,000 bail bond were initially under seal.[302] Media outlets sought to unseal the names of the guarantors, a motion Santos opposed.[302][303] District Judge Joanna Seybert denied Santos's appeal and ordered the names unsealed; they were revealed to be Santos's father Gercino dos Santos Jr. and aunt Elma Santos Prevenand.[304][305] They had not been required to put up any cash or property as collateral for the bond but would be liable for the entire amount if Santos fled.[302][304]
In August 2023, Santos said he would not consider a plea deal at that time.[173] However, a month later, prosecutors told the judge that they were both sharing substantial new evidence with Santos and his lawyer while looking at "possible paths forward" with them, raising speculation regarding a possible plea deal,[306] which Santos has denied.[307]
Marks' guilty plea in October was seen as an ominous development for Santos, referred to as "Co-Conspirator No. 1" in her plea agreement, due to the falsifications in his campaign finance reports she had admitted to making. "One way or another, the government is going to use that information in his case", said one law professor. Kappel said it was "bad news" for him, noting that the lack of a provision in the agreement that she continue cooperating may indicate that the government has enough evidence implicating Santos to believe her testimony would not be needed to convict him.[308] Her plea agreement alludes to text and email exchanges between her and Santos.[239]
Superseding indictment
Five days after Marks's plea, prosecutors filed a superseding indictment, alleging 10 additional felonies committed by Santos including conspiracy against the United States, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, credit card fraud and money laundering. These charges stemmed from not only the same effort to deceive the RNC Marks had admitted to, but the unauthorized use of donor credit cards, the money raised by RedStone by misrepresenting its political status and the purpose of the spending, much of which Santos allegedly converted for personal spending on clothing and other luxury items. In an October 27 court appearance, Santos plead not guilty to the new charges.[202][309]
Santos learned of the additional charges when questioned by reporters after leaving a House Republican Conference meeting where he said he had not had access to his phone. He called them "bullshit" and explained that he had not handled any of his campaign finance reports. "I didn't even know what the hell the FEC was" when he first ran for office, Santos said.[310] Later he attributed them to Marks's mistakes and malfeasance.[179][ab]
Other ventures
Following his expulsion from Congress, Santos started offering video clips on the Cameo platform, where he charges "between $200 and $300" per video. It has been noted that this could potentially earn him well over "the $174,000 salary he earned as a member of Congress".[312] Senator John Fetterman spent $343 for a Cameo video from George Santos, as a prank against his colleague, Bob Menendez.[313]
On December 4, 2023, television host Jimmy Kimmel introduced a new segment to his show that featured Santos' videos on Cameo.[314] Kimmel anonymously requested a series of videos from Santos that he intended to play over the course of a number of episodes of his show. Following this, Santos claimed that Kimmel underpaid him as he was unaware that the videos were to be used for commercial purposes, asserting that Kimmel now owed him "$21,800 and change".[315]
Personal life
Santos is openly gay.[316][317] He was married to a woman from 2012 to 2019,[318] despite previously being out, but lived with men he was involved with from 2013 on.[316] Santos did not widely acknowledge his marriage to the woman, a Brazilian national,[319] until it was reported in December 2022.[320] In statements acknowledging the marriage, Santos said that he loved her, but also said that he has been comfortably and openly gay for at least the preceding decade, an assertion broadly supported by friends, former coworkers, and roommates.[319][8][321] Morey-Parker said that in 2014, Santos and his wife were on friendly terms and would often socialize with him and others, but it was clear that Santos prioritized his relationship with his then-boyfriend and did not try to hide it.[322]
Santos' coworkers at Dish, who understood him to be gay, speculated in 2012 that perhaps he got married to access his claimed familial wealth, to appease his family's concerns about his sexuality, or that it was for immigration purposes.[323] Parizzi says the marriage was purely for immigration purposes and Santos was paid $20,000 for it. The Washington Post reported that three of Santos's former roommates confirmed this. Santos denies the allegation.[40] Records show that a filing to dissolve the marriage in May 2013 was withdrawn in December of the same year. Four months later, Santos filed a family-based immigration petition on his wife's behalf; it was approved in July 2014, typically seen as a sign that United States Citizenship and Immigration Services believed the marriage was valid.[319]
According to Santos' biographer Chiusano, the woman has steadfastly refused to discuss her relationship with Santos with the media.[324]
In 2020, Santos said he was living with a partner named Matheus Gerard,[325] whom he has subsequently called his husband.[151][326] Santos says the couple wed in November 2021.[325]
In popular culture
Saturday Night Live featured Bowen Yang as Santos in both the cold open and Weekend Update segments of its January 21, 2023, episode.[327] Yang reprised the role on the March 11 episode during a cold open that parodied the red carpet at the 2023 Oscars, where he would claim to be Tom Cruise.[328] He returned a third time on the October 21 episode, holding a baby during the cold open sketch built around Rep. Jim Jordan's failure to be elected McCarthy's successor as Speaker.[329]
Comedian Jon Lovitz portrayed Santos on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, which resulted in a brief Twitter feud between the two.[330] Harvey Guillén and Nelson Franklin parodied Santos on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, respectively.[331] While hosting the 95th Academy Awards on March 12, 2023, Jimmy Kimmel joked that Santos was the "last directing team to win an Oscar."[332]
In December 2023, a movie on his life was in development by Frank Rich for HBO Films, based on Mark Chiusano's book The Fabulist.[333][334]
Electoral history
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Tom Suozzi | 196,056 | 52.6 | |
| Working Families | Tom Suozzi | 9,203 | 2.5 | |
| Independence | Tom Suozzi | 3,296 | 0.9 | |
| Total | Tom Suozzi (incumbent) | 208,555 | 56.0 | |
| Republican | George Santos | 147,461 | 39.6 | |
| Conservative | George Santos | 14,470 | 3.9 | |
| Total | George Santos | 161,931 | 43.5 | |
| Libertarian | Howard Rabin | 2,156 | 0.5 | |
| Total votes | 372,642 | 100 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | George Santos | 133,859 | 49.4 | |
| Conservative | George Santos | 11,965 | 4.4 | |
| Total | George Santos | 145,824 | 53.8 | |
| Democratic | Rob Zimmerman | 120,045 | 44.3 | |
| Working Families | Rob Zimmerman | 5,359 | 2.0 | |
| Total | Rob Zimmerman | 125,404 | 46.2 | |
| Total votes | 271,228 | 100 | ||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||
See also
- The Distinguished Gentleman, 1992 comedy film about con man played by Eddie Murphy getting elected to Congress
- Anna Paulina Luna, Florida congresswoman whose personal history claims are disputed
- Andy Ogles, Tennessee congressman whose personal history claims are disputed
- Douglas R. Stringfellow, one-term Utah congressman whose personal history fabrications were revealed
- Lists
Notes
- ^ While Santos has used various aliases, he was charged in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York under the name "George Anthony Devolder Santos".[17]
He told Piers Morgan that his parents could not agree on what his first name should be, so they gave him both. His mother preferred Anthony, and always used it.[18] He used different combinations of his names at different times, settling on George Santos shortly before his first run for Congress at the suggestion of a local Republican activist, who liked the sound of it.[19]
- ^ Santos later claimed, in support of his opposition to abortion, that his birth was premature, at 24 weeks of gestation. It could not be determined if this was true, and it may not be likely, as data from New York at that time show only a 34 percent survival rate for births at 24 weeks.[21]
- ^ Fatima reportedly left one of the latter positions, in the home of Charles Goodman, son of Marvel Comics founder Martin, abruptly after questions were raised about missing items.[26]
- ^ His mother's U.S. immigration records do not indicate that she ever became naturalized.[28]
- ^
- "It's always a pebble of truth and a mountain of lies" with him, one relative said.[32]
- Fátima responded with "Oh God, Anthony and his stories" when asked to confirm one of them by a former roommate of Santos, after which she advised her interlocutor not to believe George's accounts of his past.[33]
- He reportedly kept money his aunt gave him to pay some of her bills; she did not find out until she received notice that they were overdue (She has never spoken on the record about her nephew).[34]
- On two separate occasions, including one where he stopped someone from taking a bag of his own important papers at George's behest, Gercino advised people to be careful regarding their dealings with him.[35]
- ^ "Shy and effeminate" as a child, a relative says, Santos was bullied by cousins; his family was not comfortable with his sexuality [41]
- ^ Brazilian Portuguese: [kiˈtaɾɐ ʁɐˈvaʃi]
- ^ Other evidence of Santos performing as a drag queen in Brazil includes:
- A journalist, João Fragah, has said he interviewed Santos on video performing as Kitara Ravache.[44]
- The Brazilian news program Fantástico published a video purportedly of Santos dancing in drag at Niterói's 2007 gay parade; Fantástico cited digital crimes expert Wanderson Castilho confirming that this person was Santos.[45][46]
- A Wikipedia user called "Anthonydevolder" (one of Santos's aliases) wrote about himself on the site in 2011, giving Santos's birth date, describing a similar family background, stating that at 17 he had been a drag queen in a gay nightclub and had won several gay beauty pageants, and identifying three supposed television and movie acting credits.[47][48]
- ^ One remembers Santos assuring a woman there that he would pay for her wedding dress, a promise he never kept.[55]
- ^ At the time Santos took the regional director position, Harbor City had been banned from doing business in Alabama by that state's Securities Commission in response to complaints from residents. The commission alleged that the firm was "out to deceive Alabamians and profit off unsuspecting investors by using dazzling marketing tactics to sell unregistered bonds."[64]
- ^ The House Ethics Committee noted that Santos's frequent claims of familial wealth stood in stark contrast to his own financial reality: "[He] was frequently in debt, had an abysmal credit score, and relied on an ever-growing wallet of high-interest credit cards to fund his luxury spending habits."[70]
- ^ Schumer's office said it did not track constituent service requests by House district.[118]
- ^ The New Republic noted that the war would have had no effect on the genealogy searches and DNA tests Santos had previously said were pending.[146]
- ^ The Stern School of Business
- ^ a b Members of the U.S. House are not required to live within the boundaries of their district but must reside in the same state.[8]
- ^ This deadline is rarely enforced, often due to candidates' uncertainty that they will be running until after a primary victory, the House Ethics office's lack of interest in the finances of unsuccessful candidates since they will not become members, and some candidates' awareness that they are highly unlikely to win in a district dominated by the other party.[183]
- ^ The House Ethics Committee report documents text and email messages from early in that year in which Santos at least represents himself as having more money than that available to him. He told Marks at one point that he had lost $700,000 in the value of stocks he owned due to recent comments by the Treasury Secretary; the committee was unable to determine what securities, if any, he owned or traded at that time. Santos also told staffers he was willing to loan or donate outright $100,000 in personal funds to the campaign.[184]
- ^ The car was actually a Mercedes-Benz, which Santos made regular payments on through March 2023. He had claimed the loan to be joint liability, which the Ethics Committee could do not verify although it noted other car loans during the preceding years were exclusively in Santos's name. "At no point does Representative Santos appear to have owned a Maserati, despite telling campaign staff otherwise", the committee wrote. Reports that he also boasted of that vehicle regularly reaching speeds of 185 miles per hour (298 km/h) could not be confirmed.[189]
- ^ Santos's lawyer told the committee that, again, Marks's had gotten the dates and/or amounts of the loans incorrect. The committee did not accept this: "[It] was not supported by the evidence, and there was no explanation provided for how Ms. Marks could have reported the wrong numbers for loans that did not exist at the time they were reported."[191]
- ^ The House Ethics Committee found that many of the reported expenses in the $190–200 range were actually overstated compared to what the campaign had actually spent with those vendors. It was unable to determine why the higher amounts were reported.[207]
- ^ The witness's actions are consistent with those the Times has attributed to DeMauro.[194][247]
- ^ Santos's lawyer submitted to the Ethics Committee a 1099 tax form reporting RedStone paid Santos $176,000 in nonemployee compensation during 2022.[248]
- ^ In December 2021, Talking Points Memo founder Josh Marshall took note of a Santos tweet (since deleted) about having to pay over $200 every week for three tankfuls of gas. Based on where Santos lived and worked, and assuming he bought the most expensive grade of fuel, drove a fuel-inefficient vehicle, and refilled only when near empty, Marshall calculated that if Santos was indeed spending that much on gas, he had to be driving over a thousand miles (1,600 km) a week. His commute to and from work (which Marshall estimated based on LinkBridge's location since the minimal information he could find on the Devolder Organization — the family business Santos claimed employed him at the time — did not give an address) and assumed possible weekend trips to the Hamptons still, according to Marshall, left more than 700 miles unaccounted for. Marshall noted how poor this math was, given Santos's stated background in finance.[252]
- ^ According to the House Ethics Committee, the lawyer for Santos's campaign advised him to shut Rise down while he was seeking election, advice he disregarded.[253] Another witness the committee interviewed recalled having concerns about Santos's involvement with Rise while a candidate and even the entity's legality.[255]
- ^ Robert C. Scott and Nikema Williams
- ^ Parizzi returned to her native Teresópolis, having spent all the money her parents left her, where today she and her daughter live on welfare in a favela on the outskirts of the city. While she acknowledges the role her own shortcomings, such as her gambling problem and naïveté about money, played in leaving her destitute, she blames Santos as well.[278]
- ^ Two weeks after Politico reported this allegation, the Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo reported that Trelha was himself a fugitive from justice, believed to be hiding in France after having been charged by Brazilian prosecutors in 2022 with torture over a 2019 incident in which he is accused of beating his girlfriend's 2-year-old son severely enough to fracture the boy's skull and require hospitalization. Trelha is also reported to have misrepresented his past, claiming to have worked as a pilot when he in fact never finished the training course.[293][294]
- ^ The House Ethics Committee's report, by contrast, cites former staffers and documentary evidence to show that Santos and Marks had a close personal and work relationship, to the point that the other staffers considered the campaign's finances a "black box" accessible only to the two of them; he was involved enough, his later protestations to the contrary, that he would have been aware of any mistakes she made at the time she made them. Some staffers did bring issues with Marks's competence to Santos's attention. He told them that he would discuss them with her personally, but appeared to do little, if anything, to address the staffers' concerns. He reportedly told some that Marks was "untouchable".
The committee also reviewed records from other campaigns Marks had served as treasurer and noted that they had a much lower rate of putative errors than Santos's did.[311]
References
- ^ "George Santos expelled from Congress in historic vote". BBC News. December 1, 2023. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Ashford, Grace; Gold, Michael (December 19, 2022). "Who Is Rep.-Elect George Santos? His Résumé May Be Largely Fiction". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 19, 2022.
- ^ "The House expels Rep. George Santos. An ethics report had accused him of breaking federal law". AP News. December 1, 2023. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ Pengelly, Martin (December 1, 2023). "Republican George Santos expelled from Congress in bipartisan vote". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ Sangal, Aditi; Shelton, Shania (December 1, 2023). "Live updates: George Santos faces expulsion vote in Congress". CNN. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (December 2023). "George Santos is Kicked Out of Congress in a Historic Vote". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
- ^ a b c Corn, David (December 28, 2022). "George Santos Keeps Giving Inconsistent Stories About His Mystery Millions". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (December 26, 2022). "George Santos Admits to Lying About College and Work History". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Stapleton, AnneClaire; Jones, Julia Vargas; Reverdosa, Marcia (January 4, 2023). "Rep.-elect George Santos admitted to using stolen checks in Brazil in 2008, documents show". CNN. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ a b Ashford, Grace; Spigariol, André (January 2, 2023). "Brazilian Authorities Will Revive Fraud Case Against George Santos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
- ^ a b Shapero, Julia (March 24, 2023). "Santos, Brazilian prosecutors agree to deal in fraud case". The Hill. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Offenhartz, Jake (March 7, 2023). "Listen: George Santos eviction tapes show him begging to feed pet fish, mulling public assistance". Gothamist. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 7, 2023.
- ^ a b c Sweet, Jacqueline (February 9, 2023). "Santos was charged with theft in 2017 case tied to Amish dog breeders". Politico. Archived from the original on February 9, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ a b c Fandos, Nicholas (July 1, 2023). "George Santos: An Accused Con Man Who Happened to Trade in Politics". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 11, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ a b Legare, Robert (October 10, 2023). "George Santos charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and more". CBS News. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
- ^ Gamio, Lazaro; Williams, Josh; Wu, Ashley; Escobar, Molly Cook (December 1, 2023). "How Every Member Voted On The Expulsion of George Santos From Congress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Davis O'Brien, Rebecca; Gold, Michael (May 10, 2023). "Indictment". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 29.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. xxviii.
- ^ "SANTOS, George". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
SANTOS, George, a Representative from New York; born on July 22, 1988; unsuccessful candidate for election to the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress in 2020; elected as a Republican to the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress (January 3, 2023–present).
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 15.
- ^ a b c d Silverstein, Andrew (December 21, 2022). "Congressman-elect George Santos lied about grandparents fleeing anti-Jewish persecution during WWII". The Forward. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 30.
- ^ Silverstein, Andrew (January 18, 2023). "George Santos' latest doozy: Records show his mom wasn't in NYC on 9/11". The Forward. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
- ^ Batista Jr., João (January 19, 2023). "Uma cascada de lorotas". piauí (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 25.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 21.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 23.
- ^ "Página 89 da V – Editais e demais publicações do Diário de Justiça do Rio de Janeiro (DJRJ) de 7 de Outubro de 2013" [Page 89 of V – Notices and other publications of the Rio de Janeiro Justice Gazette (RJJG) of October 7, 2013] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Diário de Justiça do Rio de Janeiro. October 7, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2023 – via jusbrasil.com.br.
O MM. Juiz de Direito, Dr.(a) Ricardo Alberto Pereira – Juiz Titular do Cartório da 2ª Vara Criminal da Comarca de Niterói, Estado do Rio de Janeiro, FAZ SABER que o Promotor de Justiça Titular deste juízo, denunciou o nacional George Anthony Devolder Santos -Nacionalidade Americana – Profissão: Professor – Estado Civil: Solteiro – Data de Nascimento: 22/07/1988 Idade: 25 – Filiação: Pai -Gercino Antonio dos Santos Junior Mãe – Fatima Alzira Caruso Horta Devolder [The Honorable Judge Ricardo Alberto Pereira, Judge of the 2nd Criminal Court of the City of Niterói, State of Rio de Janeiro, DOES NOTICE that the Prosecutor General of this court, denounced the national George Anthony Devolder Santos – American Nationality – Profession: Teacher – Marital Status: Single – Date of Birth: 22/07/1988 Age: 25 – Parentage: Father -Gercino Antonio dos Santos Junior Mother – Fatima Alzira Caruso Horta Devolder ]
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 16–17.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 11, 28–30.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. xxi.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. xvii.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 21-22.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 29, 31.
- ^ "Filho de brasileiros anuncia candidatura a Deputado em NY" [Son of Brazilians announces candidacy for NY Congressman]. Brazilian Times (in Brazilian Portuguese). December 2, 2019. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ "George Santos Faces New Questions About Campaign Loans". CNN Tonight. January 25, 2023. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 18.
- ^ Dias, Isabella (January 26, 2023). ""Lies Have Short Legs": Inside the Brazilian WhatsApp Group Exposing George Santos". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h McCoy, Terence; Dias, Marina (August 31, 2023). "For George Santos, a life in Brazil at odds with his GOP politics". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 31, 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 42.
- ^ Grattan, Steven (January 18, 2022). "Embattled U.S. Rep. George Santos was drag queen in Brazil pageants, associates say". Reuters. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Ibrahim, Nur (January 19, 2023). "Was Rep. George Santos a Drag Queen in Brazil?". Snopes. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Lavietes, Matt; Leal, Isabela; Santaliz, Kate; Sonnier, Olympia (January 20, 2023). "Rep. George Santos denies ever having been a drag queen". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ "Defensor de pautas anti-LGBTQIA+, deputado republicano filho de brasileiros já foi drag queen no Brasil". Fantástico (in Brazilian Portuguese). January 22, 2023. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- ^ "Vídeo inédito mostra George Santos de drag queen durante parada gay de Niterói, em 2007". Fantástico (in Brazilian Portuguese). January 23, 2023. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- ^ Cadelago, Christopher (January 20, 2023). "George Santos appears to admit drag queen past in Wiki post". Politico. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ a b Mack, David (January 20, 2023). "It Appears George Santos Also Lied About Appearing On 'Hannah Montana'". Buzzfeed News. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Oshin, Olafimihan (January 19, 2023). "Santos denies performing as a drag queen". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
- ^ Grether, Nicole; Betsy, Klein (January 22, 2023). "Santos says he 'was not a drag queen in Brazil' but was having 'fun at a festival'". CNN. Archived from the original on January 22, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 43-44.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 49–55.
- ^ a b Sweet, Jacqueline (December 22, 2022). "George Santos' Former NY Coworkers Fill In Murky Biography". Patch. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, pp. 6–9.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 9.
- ^ a b c d Fandos, Nicholas (January 11, 2023). "George Santos's Secret Résumé: A Wall Street Star With a 3.9 G.P.A." The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ a b Kaplan, Michael; MacFarlane, Scott; Kates, Graham (September 8, 2023). "Newly obtained George Santos "vulnerability report" spotted red flags long before embattled Rep. was elected". CBS News. Archived from the original on September 8, 2023. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (January 1, 2023). "George Santos Goes to Washington as His Life of Fantasy Comes Into Focus". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
- ^ LaRocco, Paul; Eidlerpaul, Scott (January 19, 2023). "George Santos may have inflated role at finance company, records show". Newsday. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ Stanley-Becker, Isaac; O'Connell, Jonathan; Brown, Emma (January 15, 2023). "Harbor City called George Santos a 'perfect fit.' The SEC called the company a fraud". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
- ^ "Filho de brasileiros anuncia candidatura a Deputado em NY". Brazilian Times. December 2, 2019. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em (January 13, 2023). "George Santos said accused 'Ponzi scheme' he worked at was '100% legitimate' when accused of fraud in 2020". CNN. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ "Harbor City Capital Corp. Announces Opening of a New York City Office to Be Fully Operational" (Press release). PR Newswire. June 1, 2020. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ^ a b c Lanard, Noah; Corn, David (December 21, 2022). "Scandal-Struck George Santos Just Revived the Firm That Netted Him Mystery Millions". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
- ^ Maroney, Karlista (July 17, 2020). "City Capital : Harbor City Capital Corp Introduces New Team Member" (Press release). MarketScreener.com. ABNewswire. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ^ Stanley-Becker, Isaac; Brown, Emma (January 11, 2023). "George Santos was paid for work at company accused of Ponzi scheme later than previously known". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Ashford, Grace; Berzon, Alexandra; Gold, Michael (January 19, 2023). "How an Investor Lost $625,000 and His Faith in George Santos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c O'Connell, Jonathan; Stanley-Becker, Isaac; Brown, Emma; Oakford, Samuel (January 25, 2023). "'I felt like we were in "Goodfellas"': How George Santos wooed investors for alleged Ponzi scheme". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 38, 42n188.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 40.
- ^ a b Goba, Kadia (December 28, 2022). "George Santos tries to explain his wealth". Semafor. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
- ^ Sá Pessoa, Gabriel; Masih, Niha; Parker, Claire (January 3, 2023). "Brazil to reopen probe of George Santos in 2008 checkbook fraud case". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ Lacy, Akela (December 23, 2022). "George Santos Moved to Florida in 2016, Voted There, Then Quickly Registered Again in New York". The Intercept. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 44.
- ^ Sweet, Jacqueline (February 15, 2023). "The time George Santos tried to raise crazy money to host a simple rally for Trump". Politico. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- ^ Neville, Anne (July 21, 2019). "A day of discord and drama as Trump rallies clash in Buffalo". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Fandos, Nicholas (January 13, 2023). "Santos's Lies Were Known to Some Well-Connected Republicans". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Freedlander, David (January 15, 2023). "The Luckiest Liar in Politics: How George Santos outran the truth". New York. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
- ^ a b Suozzi, Tom (January 3, 2023). "A Con Man Is Succeeding Me in Congress Today". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
- ^ "New York Election Results: Third Congressional District". The New York Times. December 4, 2020. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
- ^ a b Zremski, Jerry (January 12, 2023). "You can believe this: George Santos had Western New York political heavyweights in his corner". The Buffalo News. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ a b Metzger, Bryan (November 9, 2022). "A gay Republican who said Trump was 'at his full awesomeness' on January 6 is headed to Congress". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ Konig, Joseph (November 22, 2022). "Queens congressman-elect talks Jan. 6, being a gay Republican". Spectrum News NY1. Archived from the original on January 4, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ a b Sommerfeldt, Chris (January 2, 2023). "George Santos funneled $25K to Lee Zeldin's campaign for governor—and then reimbursed himself". Daily News. Archived from the original on January 3, 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- ^ Brown, Pamela; Krieg, Gregory (January 23, 2023). "George Santos' lies are casting a harsh spotlight on a powerful Republican who endorsed and raised money for him". CNN. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 10.
- ^ Glueck, Katie; Fandos, Nicholas (November 29, 2021). "Rep. Tom Suozzi Is Running for Governor of New York". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 28, 2021. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ^ a b Roy, Yancey (August 24, 2022). "Santos/Zimmerman congressional race breaking a barrier on LI". Newsday. Archived from the original on November 6, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ a b Lavietes, Matt (November 9, 2022). "In historic House race between gay candidates, Republican defeats Democrat, NBC News projects". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ Lynn, Frank (July 25, 1982). "Key political races are shaping up after district shifts". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Ellison, Sarah (December 29, 2022). "A tiny paper broke the George Santos scandal, but no one paid attention". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
a tiny publication on Long Island [...] The North Shore Leader wrote in September, when few others were covering Santos, about his "inexplicable rise" in reported net worth—from essentially nothing in 2020 to as much as $11 million two years later. [...] no one followed its story before Election Day.
- ^ a b c Daly, Maureen. "Santos Filings Now Claim Net Worth of $11 Million". The North Shore Leader. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2023.
- ^ "Endorsement: Robert Zimmerman for US Congress (NY3)". The North Shore Leader. Archived from the original on October 22, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
- ^ "Financial Disclosure Report: Candidate George Anthony Devolder-Santos" (PDF). Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. September 6, 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
- ^ "George Santos Republican Candidate in New York's 3rd Congressional District" (PDF). dccc.org. July 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ Rakich, Nathaniel (January 5, 2023). "3 Questions We Have About George Santos". FiveThirtyEight. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
- ^ a b Mann, Brian (December 19, 2022). "New York GOP leader calls accusation of faked bio for new GOP House member 'serious'". All Things Considered. NPR. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
- ^ Zitser, Joshua (January 28, 2023). "2 former George Santos campaign workers describe a 'sloppy' workplace and a boss with a short fuse". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
- ^ Lacy, Akela (December 24, 2022). "Did Republicans Know About George Santos Before the Election?". The Intercept. Archived from the original on December 28, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ "New York Third Congressional District Election Results". The New York Times. November 8, 2022. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 14, 2022. Retrieved November 14, 2022.
- ^ Marchman, Tim (April 18, 2023). "George Santos' Press Team Denies He Was Born In the United States, Then Denies Denial". Vice News. Archived from the original on April 18, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2023.
- ^ Zanona, Melanie; Raju, Manu; Dovere, Edward-Isaac (February 15, 2023). "Top Republicans plot Santos' ouster as embattled freshman weighs reelection". CNN. Archived from the original on February 24, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
- ^ a b Gold, Michael (March 14, 2023). "George Santos Signals Intention to Seek Re-election in 2024". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (April 17, 2023). "George Santos Says He Will Run for Re-election in 2024". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 17, 2023. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Foran, Claire; Pellish, Aaron (November 3, 2023). "Santos to run for reelection even if expelled and downplays past lies". CNN. Archived from the original on November 4, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2023.
- ^ a b c Schnell, Mychael; Brooks, Emily; Lillis, Mike (November 16, 2023). "House Ethics Committee releases scathing report on George Santos". The Hill. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- ^ a b Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (January 11, 2023). "George Santos Faces Calls to Resign From 4 G.O.P. Congressmen". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 26, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ Blake, Aaron (January 13, 2023). "The growing GOP calls for George Santos to resign, by the numbers". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
- ^ Vakil, Carolyn (January 11, 2023). "Local NY Republicans call on Santos to resign". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ a b c Freking, Kevin (May 11, 2023). "Expel George Santos? GOP leaders aren't ready to take that step". Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 12, 2023.
- ^ a b Karni, Annie; Gold, Michael (January 13, 2023). "Nassau Republicans Want Santos Gone, but National Leaders Balk". The New York Times. p. A12. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ a b Brooks, Emily (January 31, 2023). "Santos steps down from committee assignments". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ Ibrahim, Nur (February 26, 2023). "George Santos Wants to Make the AR-15 America's 'National Gun'". Snopes. Archived from the original on May 27, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ Prater, Nia (February 23, 2023). "George Santos Wants to Make the AR-15 America's 'National Gun'". New York. Archived from the original on May 27, 2023. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ a b c Gold, Michael (May 17, 2023). "House Republicans Stall Effort to Kick George Santos Out of Congress". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
- ^ Fandos, Nicholas (July 17, 2023). "House Democrats Prepare Push to Censure George Santos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 17, 2023. Retrieved July 17, 2023.
- ^ Beavers, Olivia; Ferris, Sarah; Wu, Nicholas (July 18, 2023). "Some New York Republicans plan to support Santos censure". Politico. Archived from the original on July 18, 2023. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
- ^ a b Saksa, Jim (July 20, 2023). "Santos off to slow start on constituent casework". Roll Call. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- ^ Gans, Jared (May 31, 2023). "Republicans and Democrats who bucked party leaders by voting no". The Hill. Archived from the original on June 6, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- ^ Goldiner, Dave (October 12, 2023). "Rep. George Santos throws tantrum and vows to oppose Rep. Steve Scalise for House Speaker". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on October 15, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ a b Paybarah, Azi (October 16, 2023). "Campaign of Rep. George Santos refunds more money than it raises". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ a b Brooks, Emily (January 17, 2023). "George Santos gets two committee assignments". The Hill. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
- ^ a b Pengelly, Martin (January 17, 2023). "George Santos reportedly to be seated on two House committees". The Guardian. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael (January 14, 2023). "In Video, George Santos Encourages Transgender People to Join G.O.P." The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael (April 4, 2023). "George Santos made a brief appearance at Tuesday's rally". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 5, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
- ^ Slattery, Denis (September 11, 2022). "Long Island Congressional candidate George Santos compared reproductive rights to slavery". Daily News. New York. Archived from the original on November 25, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
- ^ Chiusano, Mark (November 18, 2023a). "George Santos Is More Dangerous Than You Know". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 20, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ a b Steck, Em; Duster, Chandelis (December 19, 2022). "Incoming Republican congressman George Santos under scrutiny for resume discrepancies". CNN. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
- ^ Kranish, Michael; Knowles, Hannah; Paybarah, Azi (December 19, 2022). "Democrats call for probe into GOP congressman-elect's biography". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
- ^ a b c Kassel, Matthew (December 21, 2022). "Brazilian database records, historian cast doubt on Santos' claims of Jewish ancestry". Jewish Insider. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ Cuza, Bobby; Brosnan, Erica (December 22, 2022). "NY attorney general to review issues raised about Santos". Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
Republican leaders in Congress have declined to answer questions about the congressman-elect.
- ^ "Exclusive: Congressman Elect Santos Breaks His Silence". WABC. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
- ^ "WABC interview audio". Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Nava, Victor; Campanile, Carl (December 26, 2022). "Liar Rep.-elect George Santos admits fabricating key details of his bio". New York Post. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
- ^ Blaine, Kyle (December 26, 2022). "Rep.-elect George Santos admits to lying about resume, says he's 'not a criminal'". CNN. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
In interviews with WABC radio and the New York Post – the first times Santos has spoken publicly about the controversy – he acknowledged that he had fabricated some facts.
- ^ a b Eidler, Scott (December 26, 2022). "George Santos admits resume fabrications, says he will take office". Newsday. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
- ^ Watson, Kathryn; Milton, Pat (December 28, 2022). "Federal and county prosecutors probing Rep.-elect George Santos". CBS News. Archived from the original on January 5, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Kassel, Matthew (February 14, 2023). "George Santos claimed to be 'halachically Jewish' during election campaign". Jewish Insider. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
- ^ Kornbluh, Jacob (February 3, 2023). "George Santos suggested all people are Jewish 'because Jesus Christ is Jewish,' in newly surfaced video". Forward. Archived from the original on May 10, 2023.
- ^ Kornbluh, Jacob (December 29, 2022). "Long Island Jews protest Santos, condemn his exploitation of the Holocaust for political gain". The Forward. Archived from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
- ^ Sweet, Jacqueline (January 26, 2023). "George Santos Posted 'Deeply Offensive' Comment About Hitler, Jews". Patch.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2023.
In March 2011, Santos commented on a photo shared by a Facebook friend which shows someone making what appears to be a military salute with the caption "something like Hitler." In his comment, Santos writes [sic]: "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh hiiiiiiiiiiiitlerrrrrrrrrrr (hight hitler) lolololololololololololol sombody kill her!! the jews and black mostly lolllolol!!! Dum" ~. Patch also verified through another former friend, Gregory Morey-Parker, that the original Facebook post under which Santos wrote the Hitler comment existed.
- ^ Panella, Chris; Griffiths, Brent D. (January 25, 2023). "George Santos — who claimed he was Jewish — wrote a Facebook comment in 2011 joking about Hitler, 'the Jews' and Black people". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ Gregorian, Daleh (February 21, 2023). "Rep. George Santos admits being a 'terrible liar' while doubling down on some of his most dubious claims". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- ^ Kornbluh, Jacob (April 10, 2023). "Hasidic magazine: Santos said DNA tests prove his Jewish ancestry". The Forward. Archived from the original on April 11, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
- ^ a b Kornbluh, Jacob (May 8, 2023). "Santos says he'll soon release evidence of his Jewish ancestry with genealogy tests". The Forward. Archived from the original on May 8, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
- ^ Otten, Tori (November 6, 2023). "George Santos Offers Deranged New Explanation on "Jew-ish" Heritage". The New Republic. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
- ^ Tan, Kwan Wei Kevin (November 5, 2023). "George Santos, a man who once called himself 'Jew-ish,' now claims he can totally prove his grandparents were Holocaust survivors". Business Insider. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ^ a b Paybarah, Azi (January 18, 2023). "Records show Rep. George Santos's mother wasn't in New York on 9/11". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ Samu, Sheena; Milton, Tom; Brown, Erica (December 22, 2022). "Priest recalls George Santos cries of poverty — saying family could not afford a funeral for his mother". WCBS-TV. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 24, 2022.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 24.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace; Yan, Ellen (December 23, 2022). "George Santos's Early Life: Odd Jobs, Bad Debts and Lawsuits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
- ^ Fitzgerald, Niall (2022). "The Leader Told You So: US Rep-Elect George Santos is a Fraud – and Wanted Criminal". North Shore Leader. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael (January 18, 2023). "George Santos's Mother Was Not in New York on 9/11, Records Show". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ Bella, Timothy (December 29, 2022). "George Santos said 9/11 'claimed my mother's life.' She died in 2016". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ Blaine, Kyle; Steck, Em (December 29, 2022). "Santos' claim about his mother and 9/11 faces scrutiny amid his other lies". CNN. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ a b Paybarah, Azi; DeChalus, Camila (December 31, 2022). "The talented Mr. Santos: A congressman-elect's unraveling web of deception". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on December 31, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 28.
- ^ a b "George Santos tells Piers Morgan: I've been a terrible liar". BBC News. February 20, 2023. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- ^ a b c Kaczynski, Andrew; Steck, Em (December 29, 2022). "More false claims from George Santos about his work, education, and family history emerge". CNN. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ Dale, Daniel; Kaczynski, Andrew (February 21, 2023). "Fact check: George Santos tells new lies in interview about his old lies". CNN. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
- ^ a b Chiusano 2023, p. 20.
- ^ Chamlee, Virginia (January 13, 2023). "Rep. George Santos Appears to Have Ripped Off His Former Boss's Resume in Crafting His Backstory". People. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ Dorman, John L.; Hall, Madison (January 11, 2023). "George Santos lied about being a 'star' college volleyball player at the university he lied about attending, Nassau GOP chairman says". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 11, 2023. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ a b Byrnes, DJ (January 15, 2023). "George Santos caught lying about volleyball injuries". The Comeback. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
- ^ a b "In 2020 interview, Santos claimed to have two knee replacements". Morning Joe. MSNBC. January 16, 2023. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
- ^ Sheffley, Ayelet (January 17, 2023). "George Santos once bragged about having no student debt from a school he never actually attended: 'I hate looking at youth today and seeing them sitting on their behinds'". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
- ^ Krieg, Gregory (January 17, 2023). "Santos' former roommate: He had 'delusions of grandeur'". CNN. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
- ^ Schnell, Mychael (February 20, 2023). "Santos says he didn't think people would find out about lies because he 'got away with' them during 2020 campaign". The Hill. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- ^ Shapero, Julia (February 10, 2023). "Santos blames 'embellished resume' on local GOP as scrutiny continues". The Hill. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
- ^ Prieb, Natalie (December 29, 2022). "Santos reportedly used 'Anthony Zabrovsky' alias on charity GoFundMe page". The Hill. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ a b c Rebello, Yasser (January 25, 2023). "What George Santos Was Really Like as a Roommate". Curbed (Interview). Interviewed by Bridget Read. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ Davison, Laura (February 3, 2023). "George Santos Produced Broadway's Ill-Fated Spider-Man Musical. At Least, He Claims He Did". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
- ^ a b Nazzaro, Miranda (August 18, 2023). "George Santos on whether he'd take a plea deal: 'Look, right now, no'". The Hill. Archived from the original on August 20, 2023. Retrieved August 21, 2023.
- ^ Gusoff, Carolyn; Maldonado, Zinnia (December 20, 2022). "Calls grow for Congressman-elect George Santos to resign after allegedly lying about his background". WCBS-TV. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Ashford, Grace; Rubinstein, Dana (December 29, 2022). "Santos, a Suburban House and $11,000 in Campaign Payments for 'Rent'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Hogan, Gwynne; Offenharz, Jake (December 30, 2022). "George Santos claimed he was robbed of rent money in Queens eviction case—but NYPD has no record of the attack". Gothamist. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
- ^ Levin, Bess (January 24, 2023). "An Assassination Attempt, a 5th Avenue Mugging, and 300 Drag Shows a Day: This George Santos Interview Has Everything". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- ^ Jones, Ja'han (January 26, 2023). "Is George Santos' blatant racism getting a pass? It sure seems so". The Reidout. MSNBC. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Ashford, Grace (October 22, 2023). "George Santos Swore He'd Never Talk to Me. Then the Phone Rang". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved October 23, 2023.
- ^ Velásquez, Josefa (December 30, 2022). "George Santos claimed he had a brain tumor". Gothamist. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ Blest, Paul (February 22, 2023). "It Looks Like George Santos Lied About Helping Kids Sick With a Rare Disease". Vice News. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
- ^ Paybarah, Azi; Melgar, Luis; Remmel, Tyler (January 27, 2023). "See the evolution of George Santos's lies in his campaign biography". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
- ^ Piper, Jessica (March 19, 2023). "George Santos never filed a key financial disclosure. Enforcement has been lax for years". Politico. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 19n53–54.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 42.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 16–17.
- ^ a b Fandos, Nicholas (November 16, 2023). "How Santos Spent Donors' Money: Ferragamo, OnlyFans and Botox". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 18, 2023. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 18–19.
- ^ a b c Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 45.
- ^ a b Winter, Tim; Dienst, Jonathan; Shabad, Rebecca; Richards, Zoë (October 5, 2023). "George Santos' ex-treasurer who pleaded guilty made up campaign donations, charging docs say". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ a b Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 22.
- ^ Piper, Jessica (July 14, 2023). "George Santos' campaign paid him $85,000 this quarter". Politico. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ^ Brian, Rebecca O'Davis; Rashbaum, William K. (March 15, 2023). "Sold: Yacht With a Waterfall. Price: $19 Million. Broker: George Santos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 15, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Ashford, Grace (July 26, 2023). "How George Santos Used Political Connections to Fuel Get-Rich Schemes". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 26, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
- ^ a b Fandos, Nicholas; Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (July 14, 2023). "George Santos Used New Campaign Cash to Pay Himself Back". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.
- ^ Corn, David; Lanard, Noah; Friedman, Dan (July 14, 2023). "George Santos Cashed In Big With Followers of Indicted Chinese Billionaire Miles Guo". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on July 15, 2023. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (August 15, 2023). "George Santos Missed the Deadline to Reveal His Finances. Now What?". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
- ^ Offenhartz, Jake (September 13, 2023). "Rep. George Santos misses extended deadline to file financial disclosure, blames fear of a 'rushed job'". Associated Press. Archived from the original on September 14, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 46–47.
- ^ Durkin, Erin; Marsh, Julia; Wu, Nicholas (December 30, 2022). "Ethics questions on fundraiser, expenses and more: Where George Santos' many scandals stand". Politico. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
- ^ a b c Berzon, Alexandra; Ashford, Grace (January 12, 2023). "The Mysterious, Unregistered Fund That Raised Big Money for Santos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (October 10, 2023). "Santos Faces New Charges Accusing Him of Lies and Credit Card Fraud". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 10, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ashford, Grace; Berzon, Alexandra; Bensinger, Ken; McFadden, Alyce (February 13, 2023). "George Santos and the Case of the Missing $365,000". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ Piper, Jessica (February 22, 2023). "George Santos reported spreading campaign cash to other Republicans. The money never showed up". Politico. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
- ^ a b Morton, Joseph; Alvey, Rebekah (April 17, 2023). "Van Duyne says Santos-related cash never arrived". Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on April 20, 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Sammon, Alexander (January 13, 2023). "I Ate at the Italian Restaurant Where George Santos Is Often, for Some Reason, Spending Exactly $199.99". Slate. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 28n90.
- ^ a b Piper, Jessica (January 25, 2023). "The improbability of George Santos' $199 expenses". Politico. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ a b c Ashford, Grace; Gold, Michael (January 31, 2023). "George Santos's Treasurer Has Resigned, Leaving a Trail of Questions". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ a b "Rep. George Santos responds to questions about his finances". Fox 5 New York. New York. February 16, 2023. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ *Chayes, Matthew (October 5, 2020). "One dead, two seriously injured, after single-engine seaplane crashes in Whitestone, officials say". Newsday. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- Kriegstein, Brittany (October 5, 2020). "'Heartbroken that she is gone': Family mourns nurse killed in Queens plane crash". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- Mongelli, Lorena (November 5, 2020). "Queens restaurant owner recounts fatal East River plane crash". nypost.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- Acevedo, Angélica (November 4, 2020). "Little Neck's Il Bacco restaurant owner votes in person after leaving hospital following tragic plane crash". QNS.com. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- Brand, David (December 21, 2020). "Queens council candidate leads maskless conga line at Republican club holiday party". Queens Daily Eagle. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- Bekiempis, Victoria (December 22, 2020). "Covid conga: maskless Republicans do pandemic danse macabre". The Guardian. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- Slotnik, Daniel E. (December 22, 2020). "Queens Republicans Under Fire for Maskless 'Covid Conga Line' Party". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- Kaufman, Maya (December 30, 2020). "Queens Eatery Loses Liquor License After Republican Club's Party". Patch. Bayside-Douglaston, NY. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- Slotnik, Daniel E. (December 31, 2020). "'Covid Conga Line' Aftermath: One Infected and a Suspended Liquor License". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- O'Grady, Jim (November 2, 2003). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: NORTHEAST QUEENS; In This Restaurant Row, A Disservice for Neighbors". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ Bredderman, William (January 11, 2023). "George Santos Took Donation From Migrant-Smuggler". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 24–25.
- ^ Walker, Hunter (January 11, 2023). "Inside George Santos' Madcap Campaign: 'Things Were Not On The Up And Up'". Talking Points Memo. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
- ^ Stilla, Denise (December 20, 2022). "Reference: 30 Day Post-General Report (10/20/2022 – 11/28/2022)" (PDF). Federal Election Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
- ^ Wright, David (January 6, 2023). "Federal Election Commission flags issues with contributions to Santos campaign". CNN. Archived from the original on January 6, 2023. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
- ^ Schouten, Fredreka (January 9, 2023). "Watchdog group asks FEC to investigate embattled New York Rep. George Santos' campaign finances". CNN. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ Metzger, Bryan (January 9, 2023). "George Santos hit with 3 new ethics complaints over his campaign spending, fundraising, and financial disclosure". Business Insider. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ Saksa, Jim (January 13, 2023). "Legal woes grow for George Santos as another watchdog files FEC complaint". Roll Call. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael; Fandos, Nicholas (January 24, 2023). "Mystery Deepens Around George Santos's $700,000 in Campaign Loans". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- ^ Stanley-Becker, Isaac; O'Connell, Jonathan; Brown, Emma (January 27, 2023). "Justice Department asks FEC to stand down as prosecutors probe Santos". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
- ^ Kaptur, Marcy; Torres, Ritchie; Johnson, Hank; Blumenauer, Earl; Swalwell, Eric (January 27, 2023). "[P]otential violations of U.S. campaign laws, and potentially the Foreign Agents Registration Act, by New York Representative George Santos (NY-03)" (PDF). Letter to Merrick Garland. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 11, 2023.
[...] Rep. Santos' campaign warrants scrutiny. The funding of Rep. Santos's campaign has come into question following the disclosure that he lent his campaign $700,000 in funds from his company, Devolder Organization. [...] Rep. Santos also received campaign donations from Andrew Intrater (the cousin of sanctioned Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, who has close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin) and Intrater's wife during his 2022 campaign.
- ^ a b Lanard, Noah; Corn, David (January 27, 2023). "We tried to call the top donors to George Santos' 2020 campaign. Many don't seem to exist". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on January 28, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ Cambron, Andrea; Wright, David; Krieg, Gregory (February 10, 2023). "FEC orders Santos to formally declare his 2024 candidacy or 'disavow' post-midterm fundraising". CNN. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael (January 26, 2023). "George Santos Says He Has a New Treasurer. The Treasurer Does Not Agree". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
- ^ a b Sisak, Michael (January 27, 2023). "FEC wants answers on Rep. Santos' chaotic treasurer switch". ABC News. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
- ^ Kim, Soo Rin (January 25, 2023). "Santos lists new treasurer — who says he doesn't work for the congressman". ABC News. Archived from the original on January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
- ^ Greenwood, Max (February 16, 2023). "FEC presses Santos to identify campaign treasurer". The Hill. Archived from the original on February 16, 2023. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
- ^ Davison, Laura (February 21, 2023). "George Santos Gives a Name for His Campaign Treasurer and Not Much More". Bloomberg News. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- ^ a b Shouten, Fredreka; Krieg, Gregory; Scannell, Kara (March 2, 2023). "'Have not heard of him': George Santos has a new campaign treasurer but questions persist". CNN. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
- ^ Schouten, Fredreka (February 21, 2023). "Rep. George Santos names new campaign treasurer". CNN. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- ^ Balk, Tim (February 21, 2023). "George Santos names mysterious new campaign treasurer who nobody seems to know". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
- ^ Sollenberger, Roger; Bredderman, William (October 19, 2023). "Solving the Mystery of George Santos' Sham Campaign Treasurer". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
- ^ Sollenberger, Roger (October 30, 2023). "Lawyer for Former George Santos Treasurer Says He Was Also Duped". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
- ^ Schouten, Fredreka (May 19, 2023). "George Santos names himself treasurer of his campaign committee". CNN. Archived from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 20, 2023.
- ^ Brune, Tom (May 21, 2022). "George Santos hires Marjorie Taylor Greene's campaign treasurer". Newsday. Archived from the original on May 22, 2023. Retrieved May 22, 2023.
- ^ "Re: Information Related to the Investigation and Prosecution of Rep. George Santos" (PDF). Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. May 25, 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2023. Retrieved May 26, 2023.
- ^ Lanard, Noah; Corn, David (February 1, 2023). "George Santos Relative Says They Never Gave $5,800 Reported by the Campaign: "I'm Dumbfounded"". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
- ^ a b Ashford, Nancy (October 9, 2023). "A Fake Loan Could Mean Real Trouble for George Santos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 9, 2023. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
- ^ a b c Walker, Hunter (January 14, 2023). "Campaigns Linked To Santos Left Donors Feeling Ripped Off After Questionable Credit Card Charges". Talking Points Memo. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
- ^ a b c Gomez, Henry J. (January 27, 2023). "There's another mystery in Santos' campaign expenditures". NBC News. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
- ^ a b Ashfird, Grace; Schweber, Nate (November 14, 2023). "George Santos's Campaign Aide Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 14, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
- ^ Kaplan, Rebecca; Mimms, Sarah; Gibson, Ginger (December 1, 2023). "Republican congressman says George Santos defrauded him and his mother". NBC News. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ a b Schwartz, Brian (January 9, 2023). "'We were duped': How George Santos raised money from wealthy GOP donors while lying about his resume". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
- ^ "House Speaker McCarthy says he had no idea Santos embellished resume when he ran for office". News 12 The Bronx. January 16, 2023. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
- ^ Hurtado, Patricia (August 16, 2023). "Santos Fundraiser Charged for Impersonating Kevin McCarthy's Aide". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
- ^ a b Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 34.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 36.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 34-35.
- ^ Offenhartz, Jake (October 5, 2023). "Ex-treasurer for Rep. George Santos pleads guilty to conspiracy, tells of bogus loan and fake donors". Associated Press. Archived from the original on October 5, 2023. Retrieved October 5, 2023.
- ^ a b Eidler, Scott; LaRocco, Paul; Ferrette, Candice (February 4, 2023). "How George Santos benefited from sister's Rise NY PAC". Newsday. Archived from the original on February 14, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.
- ^ Marshall, Josh (December 13, 2021). "Curious George". Talking Points Memo. Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2023.
- ^ a b Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 28.
- ^ a b c Levintova, Hannah (February 28, 2023). "Another Santos scandal? He diverted voter registration money to a GOP-allied gay rights site". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on February 28, 2023. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 35n145.
- ^ Ashford, Grace; Gold, Michael (March 2, 2023). "House Ethics Committee Opens Inquiry Into George Santos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
- ^ Vazquez, Maegan (June 22, 2023). "Ethics panel expands Santos probe to include conduct covered in federal indictment". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
- ^ Richards, Zoë (June 22, 2023). "GOP-led House ethics panel has issued over 30 subpoenas in its probe of Rep. George Santos". NBC News. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
- ^ Robertson, Nick (August 31, 2023). "Top Democrat demands ethics panel's findings from Santos investigation". The Hill. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved September 1, 2023.
- ^ "Statement of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics Regarding Representative George Santos". House Committee on Ethics. November 16, 2023. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
- ^ "Statement of the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on Ethics Regarding Representative George Santos" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: U.S. House. November 16, 2023. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ Beavers, Olivia (May 16, 2023). "House GOP leaders reassure their Santos critics after Dems launch expulsion push". Politico. Archived from the original on May 16, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ Fortinsky, Sara (October 11, 2023). "New York's first-term GOP reps will move to expel Santos after new charges". The Hill. Archived from the original on October 12, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ^ Schnell, Mychael (October 26, 2023). "New York Republicans move to force a vote on Santos expulsion". The Hill. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
- ^ Gold, Michael; Broadwater, Luke; Ashford, Grace (November 1, 2023). "George Santos to Keep Seat After House Votes Not to Expel Him". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
- ^ Fandos, Nicholas; Ashford, Grace; Gold, Michael (November 17, 2023). "Santos Faces New Expulsion Push Led by His Own Party After Damning Report". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 17, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- ^ Bade, Rachael; Daniels, Eugene; Lizza, Ryan (November 25, 2023). "Playbook: Santos goes off". Politico. Archived from the original on November 25, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
- ^ Metzger, Bryan (November 25, 2023). "George Santos says he'll treat expulsion as a 'badge of honor' as he claims his colleagues are drunkenly having sex with lobbyists 'every night'". Business Insider. Archived from the original on November 25, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
- ^ Wong, Scott; Gregorian, Dareh; Santaliz, Kate; Stewart, Kyle (December 1, 2023). "House votes to expel indicted Rep. George Santos from Congress". Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Becket, Stefan (December 1, 2023). "Who voted to expel George Santos? Here's the count on the House expulsion resolution". CBS News. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ "House votes to expel Rep. George Santos amid fraud scandal". United Press International. December 1, 2023. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Shanahan, Ed (December 1, 2023). "A Brief History of House Expulsions: Traitors, Felons and, Now, Santos". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 30, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Gamio, Lazaro; Williams, Josh; Wu, Ashley; Escobar, Molly Cook (December 1, 2023). "How Every Member Voted On The Expulsion of George Santos From Congress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ a b Forrest, Jack (January 3, 2023). "Brazilian authorities intend to revive fraud case against George Santos". CNN. Archived from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
- ^ Jones, Julia; Stapleton, Anne Claire; Krieg, Gregory; Reverdosa, Marcia; Rocha, Camilo (January 4, 2023). "Brazilian clerk allegedly defrauded by George Santos calls him 'a professional liar'". CNN. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
- ^ Jeantet, Diane; Biller, David (May 11, 2003). "George Santos inks deal to avoid prosecution in Brazil over bad checks". Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 12, 2023. Retrieved May 11, 2003 – via WGN-AM.
- ^ Krieg, Gregory (January 26, 2023). "George Santos' ex says congressman will never resign because 'his ego is too big'". CNN. Archived from the original on January 27, 2023. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 52–53.
- ^ Dilakian, Steven (December 20, 2022). "New York Rep.-Elect George Santos' Claimed Real Estate Cred". The Real Deal. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (February 6, 2023). "About Those 2,500 Dogs That George Santos Claims He Saved". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
- ^ Tuchman, Gary; Clifford, Anne; Krieg, Gregory (February 14, 2023). "Amish farmer alleges George Santos wrote him bad check in exchange for puppies". CNN. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- ^ Ashford, Grace; Gold, Michael (February 9, 2023). "George Santos, Puppies and Bad Checks: How a Theft Charge Got Expunged". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
- ^ a b O'Connell, Jonathan; Brown, Emma; Jacobs, Shayna (February 10, 2023). "Amish country farmers say George Santos took puppies, left bad checks". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- ^ Sweet, Jacqueline (January 17, 2023). "Disabled Veteran: George Santos Took $3K From Dying Dog's GoFundMe". Patch.com. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
- ^ Tebor, Celina (January 18, 2023). "George Santos took $3,000 from dying dog's GoFundMe, veterans say". CNN. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
- ^ a b Bella, Timothy (January 19, 2023). "George Santos pocketed $3,000 in donations for dying dog, veteran alleges". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
- ^ Goba, Kadia; Sarlin, Benjy (January 18, 2023). "George Santos denies swindling a disabled veteran while their dog died of a tumor". Semafor. Archived from the original on January 18, 2023. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
- ^ Sweet, Jacqueline (February 1, 2023). "Feds probing Santos' role in service dog charity scheme". Politico. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
- ^ a b Kates, Graham; Huey-Burns, Caitlin; Kegu, Jessica (February 15, 2023). "George Santos was interviewed by police in 2017 international credit card fraud probe". CBS News. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- ^ Sweet, Jacqueline (February 24, 2023). "George Santos lied to a judge in 2017 bid to help a 'family friend' charged with fraud". Politico. Archived from the original on February 24, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ Kates, Graham; Milton, Pat (February 25, 2023). "George Santos was questioned by U.S. Secret Service in 2017 credit card fraud probe". CBS News. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- ^ Sweet, Jacqueline (March 9, 2023). "George Santos masterminded 2017 ATM fraud, former roommate tells feds". Politico. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ^ Marshall, Josh (March 23, 2023). "Alleged Santos Accomplice on the Run from Child Torture Charge". Talking Points Memo. Archived from the original on March 24, 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
- ^ Guimarães, Lúcia (March 23, 2023). "Homem que acusou George Santos está foragido sob acusação de torturar criança" [Man who accused George Santos is on the run on charges of torturing a child]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on March 23, 2023. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
- ^ Schouten, Frederika; Robertson, Nicky (March 10, 2023). "George Santos says he's "innocent" of allegation he orchestrated credit card skimming scheme". CNN. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
- ^ Ashford, Grace; Gold, Michael (February 4, 2023). "George Santos Is Accused of Sexual Harassment in His Capitol Office". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 5, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
- ^ Offenhartz, Jake (May 31, 2023). "Aide fired by George Santos says he got his job after sending money to Republican's deputy". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 51–52.
- ^ https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-05/santos.indictment.pdf Archived November 16, 2023, at the Wayback Machine Santos Federal indictment document
- ^ Lowell, Hugo; Pengelly, Martin; Helmore, Edward (May 10, 2023). "George Santos pleads not guilty to fraud and money laundering". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 11, 2023. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
- ^ Offenhartz, Jake (July 1, 2023). "Prosecutors in Rep. George Santos' case say they have given his defense over 80K pages of material". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 1, 2023.
- ^ a b c Fandos, Nicholas; Ashford, Grace (June 21, 2023). "George Santos Loses Ruling on Anonymity of His Bail Guarantors". The New York Times. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
- ^ Sisak, Michael R. (June 7, 2023). "Lawyer says Rep. George Santos would go to jail to keep identities of bond cosigners secret". Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 7, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ a b Gold, Michael; Ashford, Grace (June 22, 2023). "George Santos Was Bailed Out by His Father and Aunt, Court Records Show". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
- ^ Shamsian, Jacob (June 23, 2023). "Judge blames George Santos for personally feeding 'media frenzy' into his mysterious bail sponsors before making their names public". Business Insider. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
- ^ Ashford, Grace (September 5, 2023). "Santos Talks to Prosecutors About 'Paths Forward' as New Evidence Looms". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 5, 2023. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
- ^ Zanger, Jesse (September 13, 2023). "Rep. George Santos denies reports he's working on a plea deal with prosecutors". CBS News. Archived from the original on September 15, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
- ^ Hymes, Claire; Legare, Robert (October 6, 2023). "What does George Santos' ex-campaign treasurer Nancy Marks' guilty plea mean for his criminal defense?". CBS News. Archived from the original on October 8, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2023.
- ^ Ngo, Emily (October 27, 2023). "Santos pleads not guilty to new fraud charges". Politico. Archived from the original on November 28, 2023. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
- ^ Ali, Shirin (October 13, 2023). "George Santos Didn't Even Know 'What the Hell the FEC Was'". Slate. Archived from the original on October 15, 2023. Retrieved October 16, 2023.
- ^ Investigative Subcommittee 2023, p. 11.
- ^ Smith, Ben; Goba, Kadia (December 6, 2023). "George Santos is earning six figures from Cameo videos". Semafor. Archived from the original on December 6, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ^ Al-Arshani, Sarah (December 6, 2023). "Sen. John Fetterman's viral troll of expelled Rep. George Santos, Sen. Bob Menendez cost $343.20". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 6, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ^ "Jimmy Kimmel's perfect response to George Santos' demand for $20,000 over Cameo prank". The Independent. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ Anderson, Ross (December 11, 2023). "George Santos is demanding $20,000 from Jimmy Kimmel for Cameos". The Spectator World. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
- ^ a b Steakin, Will (January 31, 2023). "Promised green cards, catfishing, threats: How George Santos' ex-boyfriends say they were left feeling trapped, manipulated". ABC News. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ Pavia, Will (January 21, 2023). "Does he even really need glasses? Lying George Santos clings on". The Times. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ Rissman, Kelly (January 21, 2023). "Rep. George Santos Planned an Engagement Dinner to a Man While Married to a Woman: Report". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023.
- ^ a b c Ashford, Grace; Jordan, Miriam; Gold, Michael (February 15, 2023). "George Santos Married a Brazilian Woman. House Is Asked to Find Out Why". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
In an interview in December with the political publication City & State, Mr. Santos suggested that he was not openly gay when he first married. 'I did marry young, and I married a young woman at the time, and we pretty much were in love,' he said.
- ^ Cooper, Alex (December 22, 2022). "George Santos Hid Marriage to Woman, Says He'll Explain Alleged Lies". The Advocate. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ Kuchar, Savannah (October 29, 2022). "First congressional race between two gay nominees marks progress for LGBTQ candidates". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved December 23, 2022.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 68.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 10–11.
- ^ Chiusano 2023, p. 11–12.
- ^ a b Ashford, Grace; Gold, Michael (June 9, 2023). "George Santos Says His Family Helped Bail Him Out. (Just Don't Ask Who.)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 9, 2023. Retrieved June 9, 2023.
- ^ Batista, João (November 24, 2020). "Derrota por Correspondência". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ^ Itzkoff, Dave (January 22, 2023). "'S.N.L.' Mocks George Santos over and over Again". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2023.
- ^ "'SNL' Cold Open: Bowen Yang's George Santos Claims He's Tom Cruise". Yahoo News. March 12, 2023. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
- ^ Saturday Night Live (October 21, 2023). Jim Jordan Cold Open – SNL. YouTube. Archived from the original on October 22, 2023. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
- ^ Nolfi, Joey (January 24, 2023). "George Santos Gets into Bizarre Twitter Fight with Jon Lovitz, Rupaul's Drag Race Queen Trixie Mattel". Yahoo! Entertainment. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ Squires, Bethy (January 22, 2023). "The Many George Santoses of Late Night". Vulture. Archived from the original on February 1, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023.
- ^ "Oscars night: five talking points". France 24. March 13, 2023. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (December 2, 2023). "George Santos Movie In Works At HBO Films From 'Veep' EP Frank Rich". Deadline. Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
- ^ Edward Helmore (December 3, 2023). "HBO to develop George Santos's 'Gatsby-esque journey' into movie – report". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 3, 2023. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
- ^ "2020 Election Results". New York State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on January 15, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- ^ "2022 Election Results". New York State Board of Elections. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
Works cited
- Investigative Subcommittee (2023). In the Matter of Allegations Relating to Representative George Santos (PDF) (Report). United States House Committee on Ethics. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 17, 2023.
- Chiusano, Mark (2023). The Fabulist: The Lying, Grifting, Stealing And Very American Legend of George Santos. New York: One Signal Publishers. ISBN 9781668043677.
Further reading
- "George A. Devolder Santos: A false resume Santos used in 2019" (PDF). The New York Times. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 11, 2023.
- "Campaign of Deceit: The Election of George Santos | CBS Reports". CBS News. February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023.
- Lans, Chanteé; Hartmann, Emily (June 28, 2023). "Who is George Santos? The Man, the Myths, the Lessons of the Republican Congressman from New York". ABC7 New York. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
External links
- Official U.S. House website at the Wayback Machine (archived November 27, 2023)
- George Santos for Congress
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Ballotpedia candidate profile – 2022 Candidate Connection survey answers (Archive at Archive.org)
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Profile at Vote Smart
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
About the page
Presented content of the Wikipedia article was extracted in 2023-12-13 based on https://en.wikipedia.org/?curid=65761767