Republican Rep.-Elect George Santos May Have Falsified His Employment, Educational, Philanthropic History, Report Finds

Topline

Republican Rep.-Elect George Santos (N.Y.) may have fabricated nearly his entire resume, according to a New York Times investigation that found no records to support Santos’ claims about his education, finance career, real estate properties and a charity he said he owns, among other inconsistencies on his congressional financial disclosure forms that could amount to ethics violations or a federal crime.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – NOVEMBER 18: U.S. Representative-elect George Santos (R-NY) speaks at the … [+] Republican Jewish Coalition annual leadership meeting on November 19, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada.(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Among the irregularities identified by the Times, Santos claimed that he worked for Wall Street firms Citigroup and Goldman Sachs and attended New York University and Baruch College, but none of those schools or firms could locate records of Santos; spokespeople for Citigroup and Baruch confirmed the Times’ findings to Forbes.

Santos reported on his congressional financial disclosure form in September that he earned a $750,000 salary and between $1 million and $5 million as owner of investment advisory firm, the Devolder Organization, but did not disclose information about clients in what could constitute an ethical violation of disclosure requirements for compensation over $5,000 from one party or possibly a federal crime, according to the Times.

The Times’ report raised questions about whether the findings threaten Santos’ future in the next Congress, when Republicans will hold a slim four-seat majority in the House beginning in January.

Santos’ opponent in the midterm election, Democrat Robert Zimmerman, said he was not surprised by the Times’ findings, alleging “we always knew he was running a scam,” he said in a statement to The Washington Post.

While national Republican leadership has not yet responded to the report, the chairman of the local Nassau County Republican Committee, Joseph Cairo Jr, reacted to the Times report Monday by telling NPR that Santos “deserves an opportunity to address the claims,” which Cairo called “serious.”

Forbes has reached out to Santos’ lawyer, Joe Murray.

What To Watch For

The House can vote to remove one of its members with a 2/3 vote, but it’s unlikely that the GOP majority would support Santos’ expulsion and risk losing a seat.

Contra

Santos did not respond to requests from The Times to provide evidence to back up his claims or to a list of questions sent to him, his lawyer and the Republican communications firm, Big Dog Strategies. Murray attacked the Times reporting as an attempt to “smear his good name with . . . defamatory allegations,” he told the newspaper.

Key Background

Santos was among four Republicans to flip seats in deep blue New York, helping the GOP gain a narrow majority in the House. Santos, 34, who has said his parents are from Brazil, is the first openly gay Republican elected in a House race as a non-incumbent. He has aligned himself with former President Donald Trump by promoting Trump’s claims that fraud contributed to his 2020 election loss and he claimed to have attended the January 6 Capitol riot.

Surprising Fact

During his congressional campaign, Santos was employed as the regional director of Florida-based investment company Harbor City Capital, which was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of running a $17 million Ponzi scheme. Santos was not named in the lawsuit and denied knowledge of the alleged fraud.