New York Rep.-elect George Santos admits fabricating college, work details

Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) has admitted to fabricating details about his education and previous employment as he campaigned for Congress during this year’s midterms, falsely claiming he’d earned a college degree and misrepresenting his past work.

His comments in an interview with the New York Post published Monday follow a report from The New York Times that highlighted discrepancies in Santos’s story, including his claims that he’d worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and that he’d graduated from New York’s Baruch College.

Santos told the Post he “never worked directly” with either firm and said he’ll be “clearer about that” in the future. He also said he did not graduate from Baruch, nor “any institution of higher learning,” despite his past claims.

“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” the incoming GOP lawmaker told the outlet.

Santos insisted to the Post that the controversy won’t keep him from “good legislative success” when he takes his seat in the 118th Congress in January.

Breaking his silence on the accusations, Santos also gave an interview to local radio station WABC-AM in which he maintained that “a lot of people overstate in their resumes, or twist a little bit.”

“I’m not saying I’m not guilty of that, I’m just saying, I’ve done so much good work in my career,” he said.

“I’m not a criminal who defrauded the entire country,” Santos told the outlet.

Santos flipped a House seat for the GOP in November to represent parts of Long Island and Queens.

Incoming House Democratic leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.) said last week that Santos “appears to be a complete and utter fraud — his whole life story made up.” 

Santos’s attorney last week had called the Times report about him a “shotgun blast of attacks” and claimed coverage of him was aimed at trying “to smear his good name.”

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