George Santos

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      House ethics committee announces investigation into George Santos

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      House ethics committee announces investigation into George SantosBipartisan panel will look into alleged misconduct by Republican congressman who has admitted to lying about his résuméThe House ethics committee has opened an investigation into George Santos, the Republican lawmaker who admitted to lying about his résumé in his campaign to represent part of New York City’s suburbs in Congress’s lower chamber.A bipartisan statement from the committee’s GOP chair, Michael Guest, and the Democratic ranking member, Susan Wild, said the panel voted to create a subcommittee to look into alleged misconduct by Santos.‘We don’t know his real name’: George Santos’s unravelling web of liesRead moreThey specified it would investigate “whether Representative George Santos may have: engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign; failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House; violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office”.Republican Dave Joyce will chair the subcommittee, alongside Democratic ranking member Susan Wild. They will be joined by Republican John Rutherford and Democrat Glenn Ivey.Representatives for Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Santos had already removed himself from his committee assignments but otherwise has refused calls from Republicans in New York to step down from office. “The committee notes that the mere fact of establishing an investigative subcommittee does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred,” the statement said.On Tuesday Santos introduced his first bill, an attempt to reverse part of Donald Trump’s tax plan that limited how much homeowners could deduct in state and local property taxes, the New York Times reported.TopicsGeorge SantosUS politicsUS CongressRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      George Santos admits being a ‘terrible liar’ to Britain’s Piers Morgan

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      George Santos admits being a ‘terrible liar’ to Britain’s Piers MorganRepublican congressman tells broadcaster it ‘wasn’t about tricking anybody’ while defending his comments on being JewishGeorge Santos, the embattled Republican congressman from New York who fabricated large swaths of his resume, admitted in an interview on Monday with Britain’s Piers Morgan that he had been a “terrible liar”.Santos was elected to represent portions of the New York City borough of Queens and neighboring Long Island in November and a staggering number of falsehoods have come to light since. His lies include claiming to be Jewish, graduating from college, working at finance giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, and that his mother was in the World Trade Center during the Al-Qaida terrorist attack on 11 September 2001.‘We don’t know his real name’: George Santos’s unravelling web of liesRead more“I’ve been a terrible liar on those subjects,” Santos told the broadcaster and journalist Morgan in an interview on Talk TV. “What I tried to convey to the American people is I made mistakes of allowing the pressures of what I thought and needed to be done in order to … this wasn’t about tricking anybody.“It wasn’t about tricking the people, this was about getting accepted by the party here locally.””I’ve been a terrible liar…”Piers Morgan grills republican George Santos, the man who’s been branded the biggest fibber in politics.Watch it on TalkTV at 8pm.@piersmorgan | @Santos4Congress | @TalkTV | #PMU pic.twitter.com/bNaIDJLlzG— Piers Morgan Uncensored (@PiersUncensored) February 20, 2023
      Santos pushed back, however, on the suggestion that he had lied about being Jewish.“I never claimed to be Jewish. I’ve always made a party-favor joke. I’ve done it on stages across the country,” Santos said.Morgan shot back: “What’s funny about falsely claiming you’re Jewish?”Santos said: “Not falsely claiming I’m Jewish. I’d always say I’m Catholic but I come from a Jewish family so that makes me Jew-ish. It’s always been a party favor, everybody’s always laughed, and now that everybody’s cancelling me, everybody’s pounding down for a pound of flesh.”Morgan replied: “Because you’re not Jewish.”Santos also defended his comments on Judaism by pointing out that members of the Republican Jewish Coalition, an influential group, had found his comments funny when he spoke before them in November. He didn’t mention that the group has since denounced him and said Santos deceived them.He also insisted that he had not lied about his mother’s presence in the South Tower of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan on 9/11, when terrorists hijacked passenger jets into both of the edifice’s twin towers, even though the New York Times obtained records showing his mother, Fatima Devolder, was not in New York that day.Will George Santos’s dog scandals finally bring him down? | Arwa MahdawiRead more“Specifically on the point that nobody can find any evidence that your mother worked at the World Trade Center at all, ever, could you have just got this wrong?” Morgan said.“Are you telling me that I got wrong what my mother told me?” Santos said. “She wasn’t one to mislead me.”“There’s no record that she was there at all that day. There’s a record of every single person in both those towers,” Morgan said.“I stay convinced that that’s the truth.”Santos has faced calls to resign from Congress from his constituents and fellow Republicans, but has refused so far. He also faces federal and local investigations over his campaign finances. He recently resigned his membership on several congressional committees.TopicsGeorge SantosRepublicansUS politicsPiers MorgannewsReuse this content More

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      George Santos insists he won’t be forced out of Congress: ‘I’m NOT backing down’

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      George Santos insists he won’t be forced out of Congress: ‘I’m NOT backing down’Scandal-ridden New York Republican congressman restates his determination not to resign as investigations continue The scandal-ridden New York Republican congressman George Santos has restated his determination not to be forced out of the US House, vowing: “I’m not leaving, I’m not hiding and I am NOT backing down.”Will George Santos’s dog scandals finally bring him down? | Arwa MahdawiRead moreSantos broadcast his defiance on Twitter on Tuesday.“I will continue to work for New York’s third district and no amount of Twitter trolling will stop me,” he wrote. “I’m looking forward to getting what needs to be done, DONE!”Many Republicans in Santos’s district and state and in Congress, and most Democrats, would rather his career in the House was done, after an extraordinary run of sensational stories since his election in November.Santos’s résumé has been shown to be largely made-up. Wild claims about his family history and business career have been debunked, apparent appearances as a drag queen in Brazil exposed. He has been accused of criminal behaviour, in part in relation to a charity nominally set up to help distressed animals. He has been accused of sexual harassment by a former aide.Santos’s campaign finance filings are under investigation. This week, the New York Times reported that $365,000 was “missing”. The source of Santos’s personal wealth is also under investigation, as are past activities under a different name, Anthony Devolder.On Tuesday, Noah Bookbinder, president of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said: “Hundreds of thousands of dollars in totally unexplained spending of campaign funds seems like something that is likely to become a major problem for George Santos. We don’t know yet, but this kind of thing often ends up pointing to crimes.”Under investigation at local, state, federal and international levels, Santos has admitted embellishing his résumé but denied wrongdoing and repeatedly said he will not resign.Democrats have called for Santos to be expelled but expulsions from the House are extremely rare. Only five representatives have ever been expelled – three for fighting for the Confederates in the civil war.Republican leaders accepted Santos’s withdrawal from two committee assignments, a step he said he took to concentrate on serving his district. But party leaders have not called for Santos to resign, taking cover behind ongoing investigations of his campaign finances.In January, Santos supported Kevin McCarthy for House speaker through 15 votes forced by rightwing rebels. McCarthy now leads the House with a slim majority that would be in danger of reduction via any special election in New York.Last week, a group of Santos’s Queens and Long Island constituents rallied in Washington, calling for his resignation.The same day, at Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, Santos was confronted by Mitt Romney, the Utah senator and 2012 Republican presidential nominee.00:28Romney told reporters Santos was “a sick puppy” and said he told him he did not belong in Congress.Santos said it was “not the first time in history that I’ve been told to shut up and go to the back of the room, especially by people who come from a privileged background”.A week later, Santos remained defiant. But Ron Filipkowski, a former federal prosecutor turned political commentator, pointed to his likely electoral fate – and that of Republicans now seen to be allied with him.“Even if he survives to next year,” Filipkowski wrote, “he will get destroyed in his primary. The only question now is how many of his [Republican] colleagues is he going to take down with him on his way out.“Every Democrat running should be waiting for that pic[ture] of their opponent with a smiling George Santos.”TopicsGeorge SantosHouse of RepresentativesUS CongressUS politicsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Will George Santos’s dog scandals finally bring him down? | Arwa Mahdawi

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      Will George Santos’s dog scandals finally bring him down?Arwa MahdawiMitt Romney has called the US congressman a ‘sick puppy’. But, more broadly, the GOP has made itself a home for those who mock honesty and decency There are lies, there are damned lies, and then there is George Santos’s CV. In the short time that he has been in the public eye, the 34-year-old Republican congressman from New York has been accused of fabricating almost every facet of his life. During his election campaign, Santos claimed to be a “proud American Jew” whose grandparents “survived the Holocaust”. After being challenged on this, however, Santos clarified that he was raised Catholic and argued that he had always said he was “Jew-ish”. Emphasis on the ish.What else has he lied about? Well, how long have you got? His education and work history appear to be fabrications. He has said his mother was working in the World Trade Center on 9/11, yet records show she was in Brazil. He has said that he “lost four employees” in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Florida, but the New York Times has not been able to verify these claims. He has also claimed to have been a college volleyball star (unlikely) and a producer on Spider-Man (untrue). No one is even sure what Santos’s real name is.I could go on and on with the lies, but I need to get to the scandals. There is the scandal about his former life as a drag queen in Brazil, which he originally denied, then appeared to admit. (To be clear: the only outrageous thing about his alleged drag-queen past is that he is now active in a party that demonises and wants to criminalise drag queens as part of a broader anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.) There is the $365,000 in campaign funds he can’t account for. And then there are the multiple dog-related scandals.Last week, Politico reported allegations that Santos spent 2017 cruising around Pennsylvania’s Amish Country buying puppies from dog breeders with cheques that bounced. (I know that cheques haven’t been widely used in the UK since about 1492, so this story sounds suspicious to British ears, but Americans still use them.)A few days after allegedly writing $15,125 in bad cheques to breeders, Santos held an adoption event at a pet store in New York. It’s not clear if he made money from this, but adoption fees can range from $300 to $400. Santos was charged with theft by deception, but those charges were dropped when he claimed his chequebook had been stolen.The other dog-related scandal? The congressman is accused of promising to raise funds for a homeless man’s dying dog in 2016, then taking off with the money.I am not sure how Santos still has a job as a lawmaker, but, as he becomes more and more of an embarrassment, his party colleagues are gradually turning against him. Fellow New York congressman Nick LaLota last week called Santos a “sociopath”. The Utah senator Mitt Romney, meanwhile, described Santos as a “sick puppy” and said he “shouldn’t be in Congress … if he had any shame at all, he wouldn’t be there”.It turns out Santos doesn’t have any shame. On Wednesday, he told reporters that he is the real victim. “It’s not the first time in history that I’ve been told to shut up and go to the back of the room, especially by people who come from a privileged background,” Santos said of Romney’s remarks. “I think it’s reprehensible the senator would say such a thing to me … it wasn’t very Mormon of him.”If Santos were a one-off, his antics might be amusing. But there is nothing remotely funny about a political system that has allowed someone such as Santos to get as far as he has. Indeed, Santos may not be the only fabulist in the Republican party: the Washington Post reported last week that Representative Anna Paulina Luna, who was recently elected as a Republican congresswoman in Florida, also appears to have fabricated a lot of her biography.She, too, has claimed Jewish roots, but, according to her own family, her grandfather reportedly “served in the armed forces of Nazi Germany”. If true, these allegations would suggest that the only qualifications for a successful career in the Republican party are an active imagination and no moral compass whatsoever.TopicsGeorge SantosOpinionRepublicansUS politicsUS CongresscommentReuse this content More

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      George Santos: puppy theft charge news follows Romney’s ‘sick puppy’ barb

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      George Santos: puppy theft charge news follows Romney’s ‘sick puppy’ barbRepublican at centre of string of scandals was charged in Pennsylvania with theft over purchase of puppies in 2017 The New York Republican congressman George Santos, who is at the centre of a bizarre string of scandals and who the Utah senator Mitt Romney this week called a “sick puppy”, was charged with theft in Pennsylvania in 2017 – over a purchase of “puppies”.George Santos is a ‘sociopath’, fellow New York Republican congressman saysRead moreThe scandal, reported by Politico, is not Santos’s first involving dogs and his charity, Friends of Pets United. A New Jersey veteran alleges Santos raised money for an operation for his dog, then absconded with the money.In the Pennsylvania case, in Amish Country, $15,125 in bad checks were made out for “puppies”, Politico reported.Days later, Santos held an adoption event at a Staten Island pet store. Citing court records and a lawyer who helped Santos, Politico said the theft charge was dropped and Santos’s record expunged, after Santos said someone had stolen his checkbook.It is not Santos’s first case involving a checkbook. Prosecutors in Brazil have reopened a case involving the alleged use of a stolen checkbook.Santos denies all alleged wrongdoing and says he will not resign. He did not comment about the Amish Country case. The lawyer, Tiffany Bogosian, told Politico “she now doesn’t believe” his story, given subsequent developments.Bogosian told the New York Times: “I should have never got involved. He should have went to jail. And I wish nothing but bad things for him.”Santos, 34, won in New York’s third district last year. He has since admitted embellishing his résumé.Bizarre claims, including playing volleyball for a college he didn’t attend and being a producer on the Spider-Man musical, have been exposed. Claims about his family, including descent from Holocaust survivors and that 9/11 “claimed” his mother’s life, have been disproven. Santos has denied reports he was a drag queen in Brazil.He has also been accused of sexual harassment, by a former aide. His charity is being investigated.Republicans, Democrats and constituents have called for Santos to quit. But Santos supported Kevin McCarthy through 15 votes for House speaker and the Republican leader, who must work with a narrow majority, has not said Santos should go.McCarthy and other senior Republicans have said they are waiting on investigations of Santos’s campaign finance filings, amid questions about the source of his wealth and activities under a different name, Anthony Devolder.Resignations from Congress are common but expulsions are not. Only five representatives have been expelled – three for fighting for the Confederacy in the civil war. Regardless, on Thursday Democrats filed a resolution for Santos’s expulsion.“We gave him plenty of time to resign and he has chosen not to do so,” said Robert Garcia of California.Santos said again he would not resign voluntarily.00:28Romney’s clash with Santos came at the State of the Union address on Tuesday.Romney said he told Santos he did not belong in Congress. He also called Santos a “sick puppy” and poured scorn on his résumé claims. Santos claimed Romney called him an “ass” and to have called the senator an “asshole”.On Thursday, Santos told Newsmax that the same night, the independent Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema was “very polite, very kindhearted” and said: “Hang in there buddy.”On Friday, a spokesperson for Sinema told CNN: “This is a lie.”TopicsGeorge SantosUS politicsRepublicansUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS SenateMitt RomneynewsReuse this content More

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      George Santos is a ‘sociopath’, fellow New York Republican congressman says

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      George Santos is a ‘sociopath’, fellow New York Republican congressman saysNick LaLota is one of a growing number of people from both parties to call on Santos to quit over made-up résumé and investigations00:28George Santos is a “sociopath” who thrives on negative attention, another New York Republican congressman said.‘You don’t belong here’: Romney and Santos in tense State of Union exchangeRead more“He’s a sociopath,” Nick LaLota told CNN on Wednesday, after Santos’s confrontation with Mitt Romney at Joe Biden’s State of the Union address made headlines the night before.“He looks for that attention. Even the negative attention drives him. It’s become an embarrassment and a distraction to the Republicans in the House.“And every time I have to come to something like this and talk about George Santos, I can’t talk about what Republicans ought to be doing instead.”Santos later told reporters Romney’s remarks were “reprehensible” and said the senator’s behaviour “wasn’t very Mormon”.Romney, a senator from Utah, is a member of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. Santos claimed to have Jewish grandparents who escaped the Holocaust, a lie repeatedly exposed.The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “sociopathic” as “of, relating to, or characterised by asocial or antisocial behavior or exhibiting antisocial personality disorder”.LaLota was elected to Congress in New York’s first district last November, while Santos won in the third.Since then, Santos’s résumé has been shown to be largely made-up, his often bizarre past behaviour exposed and his campaign finance filings investigated.The congressman is also the subject of allegations of criminal behaviour, including a sexual harassment claim leveled by a former congressional aide.The 34-year-old has admitted embellishing his résumé but denied wrongdoing and repeatedly said he will not resign.LaLota is among a growing number of Republicans, Democrats and constituents who have called on Santos to quit. Party leaders accepted Santos’s withdrawal from committee assignments but have not said he should resign.Santos supported the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, through 15 rounds of voting for the position, against a far-right rebellion.Members of Congress often resign amid scandal but very few are reprimanded, censured or expelled. The last of only five members ever expelled was James Traficant Jr, an Ohio Democrat removed in 2002 after being convicted of crimes including obstruction of justice and racketeering.On Tuesday night, ahead of Biden’s speech, Santos positioned himself near the centre aisle of the House chamber as senators entered.He was seen to exchange words with Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who is now a senator from Utah.Romney later told a scrum of reporters: “I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States.“Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room.”Romney called Santos a “sick puppy” and said he told the New Yorker he “shouldn’t be in Congress … if he had any shame at all, he wouldn’t be there”.Asked if he was disappointed McCarthy had not called on Santos to resign, Romney said: “Yes.”New add to George Santos’s résumé: producer on Spider-Man musicalRead moreRomney said he didn’t hear what Santos said to him. Santos claimed Romney told him he was an “ass” and to have retorted that the senator was “a much bigger asshole”. He also taunted Romney, tweeting “a reminder that you will NEVER BE PRESIDENT!”On Wednesday, Santos told reporters: “It’s not the first time in history that I’ve been told to shut up and go to the back of the room, especially by people who come from a privileged background.“I’m never gonna shut up and go to the back of the room. I think it’s reprehensible the senator would say such a thing to me … it wasn’t very Mormon of him.”LaLota told CNN: “Mitt Romney is right on this one. I’ve been clear on George Santos for months now. He does not deserve to be in Congress. He’s all about the rhetoric, he’s all about the drama, and he’s fallen far below the standard that we all should hold ourselves to.”TopicsGeorge SantosRepublicansUS CongressNew YorkUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      'You ought to be embarrassed': Mitt Romney exchanges heated words with George Santos – video

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      The Republican senator Mitt Romney appeared to confront congressman George Santos before Joe Biden was due to deliver his State of Union address on Tuesday. Though his remarks were not audible, Romney clearly told Santos that he ‘ought to be embarrassed’ several times. Later Romney told reporters that Santos did not ‘belong here [in Congress]’ and called him a ‘sick puppy’ 

      ‘You don’t belong here’: Romney and Santos in tense State of Union exchange
      Dozens of George Santos’s constituents call for his resignation at US Capitol
      George Santos accused of sexual harassment by congressional aide More

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      George Santos accused of sexual harassment by congressional aide

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      George Santos accused of sexual harassment by congressional aideDerek Myers alleges he was put to work as a volunteer before controversial Republican touched him and asked him over The embattled New York Republican congressman George Santos has been accused of sexual harassment by a former aide.George Santos’s lies are so big you almost have to admire them | Emma BrockesRead moreSantos already faces local, state, federal and international investigations over professional and personal behaviour, campaign finance filings and a campaign résumé shown to be largely made-up.He has admitted embellishing his résumé but denied wrongdoing and said he will not resign, as members of his own party and Democrats have repeatedly urged him to do.Republican leaders who must govern with a slim House majority have stood by him, though he has withdrawn from two committees.On Friday, the former aide, Derek Myers, published on Twitter a letter to the House ethics committee in which he claimed to have been put to work in Santos’s office as a volunteer, in violation of ethics rules, and to have been harassed.“Today,” he wrote, “I filed a police report with Capitol police and a complaint with the House ethics committee regarding ethical violations and sexual harassment by Congressman George Santos during my time working in his office.Myers added: “These matters will not be litigated on social media or through news media. They are serious offenses and the evidence and facts will speak for themselves if the committee takes up the matter. This tweet is being made public in light of transparency.”In his letter, Myers wrote that he was “alone with the congressman” in his personal office on 25 January, going over constituents’ mail.“The congressman earlier in the day had asked me if I had a Grindr profile,” Myers wrote, “which is widely known as an LGBTQ+ social networking app, more commonly used for sexual intercourse”.Santos told him he had a profile, he said.In the personal office, Myers alleged, Santos “called me ‘buddy’ and insisted I sit next to him on a small sofa”.The congressman, Myers said, put a hand on his knee and asked if he wanted to go out to karaoke. Myers said he declined, whereupon Santos moved his hand to Myers’ inner thigh and groin.Myers alleged Santos said: “My husband is out of town tonight if you want to come over.” Myers said he pushed Santos away and left the office.Five days later, he wrote, he was asked, as he had been during his hiring process, about his background as a journalist in Ohio, where he faced wiretapping charges after publishing recorded court testimony. The next day, Myers says, he was “informed that my job offer was being rescinded”.The New York Times reported that a spokesperson for the ranking Democrat on the House ethics committee acknowledged receipt of Myers’ letter. The paper said Capitol police did not confirm receipt of a report.Santos’s lawyer declined to comment, the paper said.On Thursday, Santos told Semafor he did not hire Myers because of the Ohio charges. Santos’s chief of staff said the same to Talking Points Memo (TPM), to which Myers gave a recording of the conversation with Santos in which he was let go.Santos said Myers’ charges in Ohio were “not concerning to us, it’s concerning to this institution”. Myers told TPM that as Santos spoke, he was “thinking to myself, ‘I’m a threat and concern to this institution – George Santos, you’re George Santos!’”TopicsGeorge SantosRepublicansUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More