The Life and Lies of George Santos

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George Santos, the Republican representative-elect from New York, ran for office and won his seat in part on an inspiring personal story.

But when Times reporters started looking into his background, they made some astonishing revelations: Almost all of Mr. Santos’s story was fake.

On today’s episode

• Michael Gold, a reporter covering New York transit and politics for The New York Times.

• Grace Ashford, a reporter covering New York politics for The Times.

Background reading

• Mr. Santos said that he was the “embodiment of the American dream.” But his résumé was largely fiction.

• On the first day of the 118th Congress, the Santos saga arrived on Capitol Hill.

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We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

Michael Gold and Grace Ashford contributed reporting.

The Daily is made by Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Robert Jimison, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Anita Badejo, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Chelsea Daniel, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Sofia Milan, Ben Calhoun and Susan Lee.

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