A Republican House lawmaker, who won a Democratic seat in New York state in the November election, is accused of lying extensively on his resume, according to an investigation by the New York Timeswhich led his opponent to demand his resignation even before his inauguration.
Elected in the 3rd district of this US state, George Santos reacted through a statement from his lawyer, Joseph Murray, saying that “he was not surprised to have enemies in the New York Times trying to stain him with defamatory accusations.”
A fictional finance degree.
In a survey, the NYT reveals that George Santos, the son of Brazilian immigrants born in Queens, New York, and an openly gay candidate, may have lied at various points in his biographies, including earning a finance degree from Baruch College in New York in 2010, and tickets to Citigroup bank or Goldman Sachs investment bank.
Spokesmen for these three entities assured the New York Times that they found no trace of the new elected official, who will take office in early January.
Baruch College has confirmed that it has not found a George Santos graduate circa 2010 in its records.
The New York newspaper also questions the operation of an association, “Friends of United Animals” (“Friends of United Pets”, in English), proposed by the former candidate, and also believes that his financial consultant, the “Devolder Organization” , “it’s something of a mystery.”
In his financial statement to the House of Representatives, presented in September, George Santos claims that the company paid him a salary of $750,000 and dividends of between $1 million and $5 million. But, the NYT notes, the form did not include “any information about clients who may have contributed to such loot, an apparent violation of the requirement to disclose any compensation of more than $5,000 from a single source.”
He “lied to the voters”
“The truth is that Santos totally lied to the voters (…) and does not deserve to represent Long Island and Queens,” reacted his Democratic opponent, Robert Zimmerman, defeated in the November 8 midterm elections.
He called for his resignation and an “immediate investigation by the House Ethics Committee, the Federal Election Commission, and the prosecutor.”
New York state, considered pro-Democratic, saw several elected House seats tilt Republican, contributing to its narrow majority in Washington’s House. Democrats retained a majority in the Senate.
Source: BFM TV
