Nassau County Republican Leader Says George Santos Resume Allegations ‘Serious’

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By Chandelis Duster, CNN

The differences over the resume of elected New York Representative George Santos are “serious” and the GOP politician “deserves an opportunity” to clear his name in the face of the charges, a senior Nassau County Republican said Monday.

“While the issues raised in a December 19 New York Times article are serious, I believe George Santos deserves an opportunity to respond to the claims detailed in the article, which have been repeated by other news sources.” , said Joseph G. Cairo Jr. ., the chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee, said in a statement to CNN. “Everyone deserves the opportunity to ‘clear’ their name of the charges. I am committed to this principle and look forward to the member-elect’s responses to the reports.

The New York Times on Monday, citing public documents and court records, first reported that key parts of Santos’ biography were either contradicted or unsupported by evidence. A CNN review of Santos’ claims about his education and work history found the same discrepancies.

Santos’ biography sometimes listed an education at Baruch College and New York University, earning degrees in finance and economics. NYU spokesman John Beckman told CNN on Monday that “university records do not reflect anyone with that name.” [George Anthony Devolder-Santos] having attended NYU. A Baruch College spokesperson also told CNN on Monday that he found no record of anyone with his name or birthday who had ever attended the school.

CNN has reached out to Santos for comment, and Joseph Murray, his attorney, told CNN in a statement Monday that the Times was trying to “smear” the elected deputy with “defamatory allegations.” The Times report said Santos failed to respond to repeated requests to provide documents that would help back up the claims during the campaign.

The differences raise questions for Santos as he prepares to formally assume his role as lawmaker in January as part of the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

Democrats locally and nationally criticized Santos.

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 Legislative Assembly in New York and a former candidate for New York’s 3rd congressional district, said Tuesday that Santos should step down immediately.

Lafazan said he plans to write letters to the House Ethics Committee asking for an investigation and called on the attorney general’s office to review “potential wrongdoing in campaign finance violations.”

“MP-elect George Santos told fantastic lies. Lying about where you live, lying about where you went to college, lying about your employees dying in a mass shooting, lying about where you worked – those are disqualifications for office,” Lafazan told a news conference.

On a biography of Santos on the National Republican Congressional Committee website, he claimed to have earned degrees from New York University and Baruch College. CNN found that Santos clarified in at least two separate interviews in the fall of 2020 that he earned an MBA from NYU, adding in one interview that he had “no debt” from his undergraduate studies and colleges. graduate cycles. A review of his campaign websites, however, shows no reference to a master’s degree.

Santos’ campaign biography also included mention of his experience at financial firms Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but the two told CNN they had no record of his employment.

CNN also confirmed that Santos listed on its 2022 financial disclosure a salary of $750,000 this year and last to the Devolder organization, which Santos says is a “family business” managing $80 million in assets. .

Research by the Devolder organization found the company was registered in Florida in 2021 and was recently deemed temporarily “inactive” by the state after failing to file required annual returns. A website or LinkedIn profile could not be found, and Santos did not list any of the clients it served in its financial disclosure.

Santos also claimed to have founded and run his own charity called “Friends of Pets United”. But no such organization was found in the IRS’ searchable database, nor in New York State’s and Florida’s registered charities.

The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2022 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Company. Discovery. All rights reserved.

CNN’s Em Steck and Nicki Brown contributed to this report.

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