Investigating a Controversy between the New Republican Representative Candidate, J.-R. Santos, with Respect to the Loss of his Cop or a Minor

His appearance earlier this month at a gala in Manhattan attended by white nationalists underscored his close relationship with Mr. Trump.

The discrepancies raise ethical and legal questions for Santos as he prepares to officially take on his role as a lawmaker in January as part of the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

Mr. Santos did not respond to The Times’ repeated requests for documents or dates that would help to verify his claims on the campaign trail. He did not respond to a detailed list of questions, nor was his lawyer or Big Dog Strategies available for an interview.

Joseph Murray, an attorney for Santos, told CNN in a statement that the Times was attempting to “smear” the congressman-elect with “defamatory allegations.”

He has said that he was raised in Queens by his parents who came from Brazil. His father, he has said, is Catholic and has roots in Angola. His mother, Fatima Devolder, was descended from migrants who fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine and World War II strife in Belgium. Mr.Santos has described himself as a Jew, but also as a Catholic.

One claim thatSantos flat-out denied was a finding from the Times that he was charged in Brazil with fraud after writing stolen checks. 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 case is unresolved because authorities were unable to locate Mr. Santos, even though he confessed to the crime and was charged.

“Santos represents the kind of progress that the Left is so threatened by – a gay, Latino, immigrant and Republican who won a Biden district in overwhelming fashion by showing everyday voters that there is a better option than the broken promises and failed policies of the Democratic Party,” Murray said.

On his biography on the National Republican Congressional Committee website, he claimed to have degrees from two New York universities. CNN found that Santos specified in at least two separate interviews in the fall of 2020 that he received an MBA from NYU, adding in one interview that he had “zero debt” from his undergraduate and graduate studies. References to a master’s degree are not shown in a review of his campaign websites.

In an interview with the New York Post,Santos admitted that he didn’t work directly for Citigroup or Goldman Sachs, but that he did do work for them through his company, which was a poor choice of words.

CNN also confirmed that Santos listed on his 2022 financial disclosure a salary of $750,000 this year and last at the Devolder Organization, which Santos has claimed is a “family firm” managing $80 million in assets.

A search for the Devolder Organization found that the business was registered in Florida in 2021 and was most recently temporarily deemed “inactive” by the state after failing to file the required annual reports. The website or profile of the man could not be found and he failed to report any of the clients he served.

The Loss of George Santos: The Associated Press Releases Critical Criticism of the New York Democrat-Laboran Electoral Candidate

Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in a newly drawn district covering parts of Queens and some nearby Long Island suburbs, flipping control to Republicans, who dominated the New York suburbs on their way to winning a House majority. 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.

Most of the criticism he faced was centered on his attendance of a rally by President Donald Trump in Washington, and a video where he claimed to have written a nice check.

“I believe that George Santos has an opportunity to address the claims in the article,” said Joseph Cairo Jr., the influential chairman of Nassau County’s Republican committee.

“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.

The Times article found that Santos appears to have fabricated key details of his business career, and therefore Murray did not give any evidence or documents to back this up.

“Only in the US can someone who grew up in Jackson Heights rise to become a successful businessperson, then go on to run for Congress,” he said.

Santos, who is gay, also claimed in an interview with WNYC public radio last month that his employees died in 2016 when a gunman opened fire at the Pulse, a gay night club in Orlando, Fla.

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

The North Shore Leader newspaper wrote an editorial before the election, stating that they were skeptical of Santo’s credibility.

On his social media sites,Santos hasn’t addressed the controversy yet, but on his website, he said he would vote for Kevin McCarthy to be House Speaker.

A New York Rep.-elect George Santos and the Nassau County Campaign for Responsible Management in the Light of the Jeffries Call for an Investigation

Discrepancies on New York Rep.-elect George Santos’ resume are “serious” and the GOP politician “deserves an opportunity” to clear his name in the face of accusations, a top Republican in Nassau County said Monday.

It’s unclear how the discrepancies will affect Santos’ role in the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

In a statement to CNN on Tuesday, incoming House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Santos a ” woefully unqualified Extreme MAGA Republican who is clearly not fit to serve.”

Josh Lafazan, a member of the Nassau County Legislature, a former candidate for the New York 3rd Congressional District, said Tuesday thatSantos 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. A person lies frequently and brazenly. What makes someone who isn’t always accurate put themselves out in the public eye and under scrutiny 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?

His charity work seems to have been a lie. A group that he claimed was called Friends of Pets United was not registered as a charity in either New York or New Jersey. According to a New York Times report, the IRS doesn’t have a record of it. The Times reports that the purported beneficiary of a $50-a-head fund raiser for Friends of Pets United says she did not receive the money. In the past,Santos said he helped out with the charity and found homes for the animals.

I don’t believe in being a criminal. Not here, not abroad, in any jurisdiction in the world have I ever committed any crimes,” Santos said in an interview with WABC radio host John Catsimatidis.

I’m not a fraud, to get down to the basics, is what I mean. I’m not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional character and ran for Congress. I have been around a long time. A lot of people know me. They know who I am. He stated that they have done business with him.

“I’m not going to make excuses for this, but a lot of people overstate in their resumes, or twist a little bit. … I’m not saying I’m not guilty of that,” he said.

He told the Post that he had not graduated from any college or university.

CNN’s KFile also reported last week 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. A lawyer for Santos had declined to comment to CNN.

Correspondence to CNN’s Call for Reply to Santos’ Statement of Concern about Accuracy in the Government and Congressional Committee

CNN has reached out to House GOP leadership and the National Republican Congressional Committee in the wake of Santos’ admissions. There was no response from the leadership of the House GOP. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy would not answer CNN’s questions Thursday when asked if he was concerned about apparent misrepresentations.

Editor’s Note: Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book “OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.” Follow her on the social media site. The opinions she gives in the commentary are her own. CNN has more opinion on it.

He listed his specific roles that he held in Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. He said that he just got in touch with the companies through his actual employment at the company Link Bridge, and that he had made a poor choice of words.

So why should the public trust anything other than his lies when he’s lying so much? And how should the GOP respond?

Republican Party leaders could certainly pressure Santos not to take office. They could publicly denounce him, and say that their party stands for honesty and will not stand for brazenly lying to constituents. That may end with their party losing the seat in a special election, but that’s hardly a foregone conclusion; and at some point, principles have to trump power. If he insists on taking office anyway, they could launch an ethics investigation and/or withhold committee assignments from him.