Investigating the Dispairment of Congressman A.J. Santos over his Biography, His Career, and the Case for Check Fraud in Brazil

His appearance earlier this month at a gala in Manhattan attended by white nationalists and right-wing conspiracy theorists underscored his ties to Mr. Trump’s right-wing base.

The new revelations, including the omission of key information on Mr. Santos’s personal financial disclosures, and criminal charges for check fraud in Brazil, can potentially create ethical and possibly legal challenges once he takes office.

CNN has reached out to Santos for comment, and Joseph Murray, an attorney for him, told CNN in a statement on Monday that the Times was attempting to “smear” the congressman-elect with “defamatory allegations.” The Times report said Santos did not respond to repeated requests to furnish documents that would help to substantiate the claims while campaigning.

The New York Times on Monday, citing public documents and court records, first reported that key parts of Santos’ biography were either contradicted or not supported by evidence. CNN reviewed the education and employment history claimsSantos made and found them to be different.

When asked about that statement on Tuesday night by former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who was guest hosting Fox’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Santos said, “My heritage is Jewish. I’ve always identified as Jewish. I was raised in a Catholic household.

There was a report in the Times of a fraud conviction in Brazil for writers of stolen checks, which Santos flat-out denied. According to the New York Times, “In the court file, Mr. Santos is identified by his full name and date of birth, as well as by the names of his mother and father. The documents show that Mr. Santos confessed to the crime and was charged, but that the case remains unresolved because authorities were later unable to locate him.”

Santos is an example of the kind of progress the Left is in, because he shows everyday voters that there is a better option than broken promises and failed policies of the Democratic Party.

The man who claimed to have degrees from both New York University and Baruch College admitted on Monday that he did not graduate from any college.

The campaign donor, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told CNN that he had been connected with Santos after the congressman introduced them. He told CNN that she asked to talk to him after he first ran.

The salary of $750,000 that Santos listed on his financial disclosure last year was in fact the last salary he was paid at the Devolder Organization.

A search for the business found that it was registered in Florida in 2021 but had been temporarily deemed inactive by the state because they failed to file annual reports. A website or LinkedIn profile could not be found, and Santos failed to report any of the clients he served in his financial disclosure.

Reply to the Nassau County Republican Democrat Corrigendum on Covid-19 Measures and “Breaking the Public Trust” in the 2016 Pulse Nightclub Shooting

Republicans won control of the US House of Representatives by flipping control from Democrats to them, thanks to a new district covering parts of Queens and some nearby Long Island suburbs. The GOP mini-wave outside the city set off roiling recriminations among New York Democrats, including calls for the state party chair to step down.

Teodora said that she voted forSantos because of his stance on Covid-19 measures. She went to a state Democrats’ rally to call for his resignation. She said Santos is a “fraud.”

Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo Jr. issued his own statement on Monday, blasting “lies” that “broke the public trust.”

“Every person deserves an opportunity to ‘clear’ his/her name in the face of accusations,” Cairo added, saying he looks forward to hearing Santos’ response.

Murray did not offer any facts, evidence or documents to support the allegations made in the Times article.

“Only in this country does somebody who comes from a basement apartment in Jackson Heights, like I did, is able to rise to become a successful businessperson, to then run for United States Congress.”

The 2016Pulse nightclub shooting in which four employees lost their jobs was claimed bySantos. He said that it was four prospective employees, but he did not give any names or other details.

At that time, I had some people that worked for me in the club. “My company at the time, we lost four employees that were at Pulse.”

The Santos saga: How bad is a man? The Nassau County GOP Lawmaker Hakeem Jeffries, the attorney general’s office and Friends of Pets United

In an editorial before the election, the North Shore Leader newspaper endorsed Santos’ Democratic opponent, Robert Zimmerman, and voiced skepticism about Santos’ credibility.

House Republican leaders have not acknowledged the controversy swirling around Santos. House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who has not returned CNN’s requests for comment about Santos, has been focused on trying to secure the votes for the speakership next month. That task became harder after Republicans won a narrower majority than he had hoped, a slim margin that will empower the conference’s most extreme members. If he were to askSantos to step down, that could cause him to lose a vote in his quest to reach 218.

The top Republican in Nassau County said that the GOP lawmaker deserves an opportunity to clear his name in the face of accusations, and there are some serious issues on his resume.

In January, when he will take on his role as a lawmaker in the House of Representatives, there will be questions about the discrepancies.

In a statement to CNN on Tuesday, incoming House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Santos “a woefully unqualified Extreme MAGA Republican who is clearly unfit to serve.”

Josh Lafazan, a member of the Nassau County Legislature in New York and a former candidate for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, said Tuesday that Santos should resign immediately.

Lafazan said he plans to write letters to the House Ethics Committee requesting an investigation and called on the attorney general’s office to look at “potential wrongdoing when it comes to campaign finance violations.”

The Santos saga is utterly fascinating, in the way stories of scammers and con men are often so captivating. What makes a person lie so often and so brazenly? What makes someone whose resume is largely false put themselves in the public eye and under a media microscope by running for office? How is it possible that when this person finally gets caught, they don’t slink away in shame, but rather lash out defiantly and simply refuse to face any consequences?

He may have lied about his charity work. Friends of Pets United was an organization that wasn’t registered in either New York or New Jersey. According to New York Times reporting, the IRS has no record of it. The purported beneficiary of the $50-a-headraiser for Friends of Pets United says she did not receive any money, according to the Times. Now, Santos is less clear about his work, saying he helped out the charity and found homes for the animals.

An Investigation of a Navyman who lies about his experience at Goldman, Citigroup, and Link Bridge, and his challenge to the House Ethics Committee

The author of the book ‘OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind’ is a journalist based in New York. She can be followed on social networking website,twitter, under the name ‘JILL FILAPICO’. The opinions expressed in this commentary are her own. You can view more opinions on CNN.

He listed roles he held in Goldman and Citigroup when he claimed to have worked there. He says he just communicated with both companies through his actual employment at the company Link Bridge, and that a poor use of words gave him a mistaken impression.

The public trusts him because of his lying, but why should they anymore given his own lies? How should the GOP respond?

It’s unlikely that the House Republican leadership will refuse to seatSantos, who is slated to be sworn in with the rest of the Congress next Tuesday. The House has the power under the Constitution to expel any member with a two-thirds vote, but doing so is extremely rare and only five lawmakers have been expelled in US history.

Santos has admitted to fabricating sections of his resume – including his past work experience and education – and has apologized but says he intends to serve in Congress.

Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro of Texas and Ted Lieu of California were among those calling on Santos – after the congressman-elect gave interviews acknowledging “embellishing” his resume – to resign and if he refuses, for the House to expel him.

One of the incoming members of the GOP conference wantsSantos to be examined by the House ethics committee, an investigative panel that is evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats but has limited options for punishment.

“As a Navy man who campaigned on restoring accountability and integrity to our government, I believe a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee and, if necessary, law enforcement, is required,” GOP Rep.-elect Nick LaLota said in a statement that marks the sharpest rebuke yet from a Republican coming to Congress or currently serving.

In the past, the California Republican has shown little appetite for punishing his own members for bad behavior – particularly when it comes to actions from before they were a member of Congress. McCarthy said that he will let the investigations play out and make a decision on how to proceed.

In an interview posted on Monday night,Santos said he won’t be deterred from being an effective member of the United States Congress.

Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph G. Cairo, Jr., said Tuesday that Santos “has broken the public trust” and “has a lot of work to do to regain the trust of voters.”

A growing number of critics say thatSantos lied when he claimed to be a proud Jewish American and said his family escaped the Holocaust.

CNN’s KFile reported that claims by Santos that his grandparents “survived the Holocaust” as Ukrainian Jewish refugees from Belgium who changed their surname are contradicted by sources including family trees compiled by genealogy websites, records on Jewish refugees and interviews with multiple genealogists.

The Republican Jewish Coalition on Tuesday said the incoming congressman had “misrepresented his heritage” and “will not be welcome at any future RJC event.”

Rep. Michael E. Santos, a New York State Democrat, says the prosecution of his lying lies must stop… and urge the courts to investigate

“A lot of people exaggerate their accomplishments on their resume or twist themselves into believing they do,”Santos told WABC radio. I’m not saying that I’m not guilty of that.

Despite intensifying doubt about his fitness to hold federal office, Santos has shown no signs of stepping aside — even as he publicly admitted to a long list of lies.

He now acknowledges none of that is true. He also admits his claim that four of his employees died in the 2016 Pulse night club shooting in Orlando, Fla., was false.

The constitution does not disqualify a candidate for lying, said Richard Briffault, who is an expert on campaign law at Columbia University.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised red flags about the Republican’s record, but it also agreed with some of his assertions, including his educational record. He supported false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election and was linked to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. The report also sought to depict him as a far-right candidate. But buried within its report, the DCCC had raised issues about his shaky financial standing and multiple evictions that left him thousands of dollars in debt.

Goldman, who won a House seat last month, said that all of the disclosures by Mr. Santos should be thoroughly investigated by the Federal Election Commission.

After a New York Times story examined the narrative that Santos presented to voters during his successful campaign for a congressional district that straddles the north shore suburbs of Long Island and a portion of Queens, questions intensified.

The New York attorney general’s office told CNN last week that it had not initiated a “formal investigation” into Santos but said Attorney General Letitia James was “looking into” some of the things that were raised about Santos in recent reports.

The Nassau County District Attorney said the fabrications associated with Congressman-ElectSantos are stunning.

“The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress,” she said. We will prosecute any crime that is committed in this county.

Rep.-elect Mike Lawler, also a soon-to-be freshman member from New York, urged his fellow Republican cooperate with any investigations and called on Santos to apologize, calling the whole controversy a “distraction.” As a result of downplaying action’s, Santos is making things worse.

He is scheduled to be sworn in next Tuesday, when the U.S. House reconvenes. He could face investigations if he becomes an elected official.

The Republican has admitted to lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street pedigree and a college degree, but he has yet to address other lingering questions — including the source of what appears to be a quickly amassed fortune despite recent financial problems, including evictions and owing thousands in back rent.

DA Brendan Brosh: Misrepresenting a New Yorker to the DA’s Committee on Civic Participation during the 2004 Republican Presidential Campaign

Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for the Nassau County DA’s office, said on Wednesday they were looking into the matter. The scope of the investigation was not immediately clear.

He confessed to lying about being a finance and economics graduate of a New York college, as well as having lied about working for Goldman and Citigroup.

He backtracked on that claim, saying he never intended to claim Jewish heritage, which would have likely raised his appeal among his district’s significant ranks of Jewish voters.

During the losing campaign, Robert Zimmerman tried to raiseSantos’ misrepresentations, but his efforts did not gain much traction.

Santos’ FEC reports contain a number of unusual expenditures, including exorbitant expenses on air travel and hotels, particularly in Miami, and $10,900 in what are listed as rent payments to the company Cleaner 123. The New York Times, which published a story on Santos’ campaign finance filing, reported that a resident of the company’s house said he had been living there for months.

Campaign finance experts say those expenditures the New York representative-elect reported stood out for a key reason: They are one penny below the dollar figure above which the FEC requires campaigns to keep receipts.

The expenditures, and particularly the $199.99 payments to Uber, Walgreens, Walmart, Best Buy, Delta Airlines, Il Bacco Restaurante and more, “definitely stood out to me,” said campaign finance expert Paul S. Ryan, the deputy executive director of the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation.

He said the payments could reflect an effort to skirt FEC requirements for campaigns to keep receipts for expenditures over $200. The FEC encourages candidates to keep receipts below that threshold, but only mandates them for payments over $200.

Ryan said the consistent appearance of charges of $199.99 effectively shows that Santos knew what the threshold was and was trying to skirt it.

“My view is a bunch of expenditures right below legal requirement for the committee to keep receipts is evidence that he knew what he was doing,” Ryan said. “If in fact he did misuse campaign funds, this was a blatant effort to evade detection.”

The Communicating with Tom Zmich: A Candidate During the Sixth District Campaign to Stop Me from Voting for General Relativity

Jack Mandel, a Jewish community leader who voted for Santos after meeting him twice and believing he was a kind, fresh face, said he “couldn’t in good conscience” vote for Santos again if he had to do over.

“The whole person that he created and the ability to deceive us is just so troubling,” she said. This man should not be in office because of the fact we all know it. I want to assure you that the Republicans know that as well.

Tom Zmich, who was a candidate for Congress in the neighboring 6th District, said that he has not done anything wrong and is a friend of his.

It is unclear whether Santos has been in touch with the Office of Congressional Ethics, and if so, who initiated the contact. In the exchange with him, he seemed to be trying to appease a concerned donor.

The person who asked not to be identified told CNN he has been in touch withSantos and shared text messages from December 22 in which he said he had spoken to the Office of Congressional Ethics.

The campaign donor, who requested anonymity to speak freely, told CNN that she felt betrayed and lied to following the news of the congressman-elect’s alleged deception.