What to know about the George Santos controversy

Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) admitted Monday to fabricating pieces of his work and education history as he campaigned to represent Long Island in the House, including falsely claiming that he’d earned a college degree and that he’d worked directly with Goldman Sachs. 

Santos, who professed on the campaign trail that he had Jewish heritage and was “a proud American Jew,” shared Monday that he “never claimed to be Jewish.” 

The incoming lawmaker’s inconsistent bio had drawn scrutiny, and his confession prompted backlash from Jewish groups, Democrats and some Republicans.

Santos is set to take office on Jan. 3.

Here’s what we know about George Santos and the discrepancies in his professional profile.

Who is George Santos?

Santos flipped a House seat for the GOP in November to represent parts of Long Island and Queens, helping the party capture a narrow majority in the lower chamber with a seat being vacated by outgoing Rep. Tom Suozzi (D). 

The son of Brazilian immigrants, Santos and his Democratic opponent Robert Zimmerman made headlines during their midterm face-off as the first time in U.S. history that two openly gay candidates went head-to-head in a federal general election. 

Santos, 34, campaigned with a professional profile that claimed he’d graduated from New York’s Baruch College and worked with top firms Goldman Sachs and Citigroup — and often referred to what he said was a Jewish heritage. 

After he was elected to represent Nassau County, a New York Times report highlighted a number of discrepancies in Santos’s CV.

His sexuality has also been called into question after a Daily Beast report suggested that he had been previously married to a woman, from whom he divorced in 2019.

He misrepresented his education, work history

On Monday, Santos broke his silence on the Times’ accusations and admitted in an interview with the New York Post that he’d lied about parts of his background.

Santos admitted he hadn’t gotten a degree from Baruch College or graduated from “any institution of higher learning.”

The incoming lawmaker also said he’d used a “poor choice of words” in saying that he’d worked directly with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and that he had merely done business with both firms through his work at a company called Link Bridge. 

The New York Times report also raised questions about Santos’s claims that he’d managed a small, family-based real estate empire. However, none of those claims were corroborated. 

“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos told the New York Post in a separate interview. 

“I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume. I own up to that … We do stupid things in life,” he said.

Santos on Monday told New York-area radio station WABC-AM that “a lot of people overstate in their resumes, or twist a little bit.”

Santos faces backlash for claims of Jewish heritage

Santos had claimed on the campaign trail that he had Jewish heritage and that his maternal grandparents fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium and fled again during World War II. He said his father is Catholic and from Brazil. 

The nonprofit Jewish news outlet Forward found that Santos had identified himself in a position paper during the campaign as “a proud American Jew.” 

But Santos insisted to the New York Post in his Monday confession that he “never claimed to be Jewish.” 

“Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish,’” Santos said. 

Since the lawmaker-elect’s confession, Santos has been heavily criticized by the Republican Jewish Coalition, which said he had “deceived” the organization and “misrepresented” his Jewish heritage.

CEO Matt Brooks said he was “disappointed” after the congressman-elect admitted to embellishing key facts about his life in two separate interviews on Monday.

Democratic lawmakers call for Santos to resign

In the wake of Santos’s confession, a number of lawmakers called for the incoming lawmaker to resign from his House seat — or be ousted by Congress if he won’t step down willingly.

“We’ve seen people fudge their resume but this is total fabrication,” Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) wrote on Twitter. 

Castro suggested that letting Santos take his seat in the 118th Congress when it convenes in January could set a dangerous precedent for future campaign trails, letting candidates “believe that they can completely fabricate credentials, personal features and accomplishments to win office.”

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) on Tuesday appealed to Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), asking him to call publicly for Santos’s resignation or schedule a vote to expel him if he doesn’t. 

“George Santos knowingly let you spread his lies. @Santos4Congress has embarrassed you and the Republican caucus,” Lieu said.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) said the House Ethics Committee should probe Santos’s campaign fundraising, saying the “complete fabrication” of his resume could indicate other issues. 

Last week, before Santos confessed to the fabrications, incoming House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) said Santos appears to be an “utter fraud.”

“He appears to be a complete and utter fraud — his whole life story made up. And he’s going to have to answer that question: Did you perpetrate a fraud on the voters of the 3rd Congressional District in New York?” Jeffries told reporters in Washington. 

“He’s hiding from legitimate questions that his constituents are asking about his education, about his so-called charity, about his work experience, about his criminal entanglements in Brazil, about every aspect, it appears, of his life,” Jeffries said.

Defeated opponent demands special election

Democrat Zimmerman, who Santos defeated in November, has called for a special election in wake of the controversy.

“George, if that’s even your real name, if you’re so convinced that #NY3 voters still trust you – resign & run against me again in a special election,” Zimmerman wrote Tuesday on Twitter. “Face the voters with your real past & answer questions about your criminal history. Let the voters decide.”

Other Democrats who lost out in the primary earlier this year are calling Santos out for his fabrications and urging him to step down. 

Nassau County legislator Josh Lafazan wrote on Twitter that Santos “has now publicly admitted to what we have all known for a week: he’s a liar & a fraud” and “owes us an apology & immediate resignation. 

Republicans respond to controversy

Despite direct calls from Democrat lawmakers to take action, McCarthy, who is vying to be the next Speaker of the House, has not commented on the issue. 

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tweeted in support of Santos on Wednesday with a charged statement sharing unfounded allegations about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and claims that the COVID-19 vaccines are ineffective.

“The left doesn’t care about lying. The real reason they’re attacking George Santos is that he the first openly gay Republican elected and they hate him for it. I’m glad George is being honest with his district now and look forward to seeing how George legislates & votes,” Greene wrote. 

Santos’s lawyer Joseph Murray last week called the New York Times report a “shotgun blast of attacks” and said the coverage indicated Santos had “enemies” at the outlet who were trying to “smear his good name with these defamatory allegations.”

The Hill has reached out to Santos’s legal team for comment. 

While national level criticism was more muted, local Republicans have called for action to be taken against Santos.

Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Cairo said on Tuesday that Santos “has broken the public trust” by making the false claims.

“He has a lot of work to do to regain the trust of voters and everyone who he represents in Congress,” Cairo said.

Santos’s fellow New York Republican Rep.-elect Nick LaLota on Tuesday called for a the House Ethics Committee to launch a full investigation into the matter, saying he’d “heard from countless Long Islanders how deeply troubled they are” by the Santos revelations.

“New Yorkers deserve the truth and House Republicans deserve an opportunity to govern without this distraction,” LaLota wrote on Twitter.