New York Representative-elect George Santos faces bipartisan criticism and investigations

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Nearly 100 voters from Rep-elect George Santos’ (R-NY) beleaguered district gathered outside the Nassau County courthouses in Mineola, New York, to demand his resignation. Santos is expected to take office next week after admitting to lying on his CV to run for office.

Santos called what he did a cover-up, saying he went to schools he never attended or worked in companies that have no record of him. But for those attending the rally, it was his assertion that he was Jewish and that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors that was most egregious.

We should never need to lie about who we are, and lying about being descendants of Holocaust survivors for political gain is beyond acceptable, says Rabbi Deborah Bravo, who leads the community Makom of New York.

Protesters want investigations by local, state and federal prosecutors to continue, and they want the House Ethics Committee involved.

In Long Island, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly has opened an investigation into whether Santos defrauded Long Island voters. Separately, the US Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn is focusing on its financial dealings as part of its campaign.

Donnelly, a Republican, said she would investigate to see what crimes had been committed after Santos, a Brazilian immigrant who won in New York’s third congressional district, admitted to lying about his education, work experience and his real estate.

No one is above the law and if a crime has been committed in this county, we will prosecute it, she said in a statement. A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ office said it is also looking into the matter.

In a murderous interview on Fox, Santos said he made a mistake.

In order to move past that and move forward and be an effective member of Congress, the reality is that I remain committed to doing everything I have proposed in my campaign, he said.

Still, Long Island Republican leaders, including Rep-elect Nick LaLota (R-NY) and Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate Santos.

New Yorkers deserve the truth, and House Republicans deserve an opportunity to govern without that distraction, said LaLota, who is part of the freshman class to sit when the new Congress takes office Jan. 3.

Santos said he admits parts of his resume were made up, but he will take up the job next week. Santos said he was a citizen and although he was once married to a woman, he was very gay.

There is an outstanding arrest warrant for George Santos in Brazil. This is a member of Congress from the United States who has an open warrant for his arrest from another country. This is absolutely outrageous, said Nassau County Legislator Joshua Lafazan, D-Woodbury. If the facts are substantiated that George Santos violated many of these federal laws and committed the crimes for which he is charged, we sincerely hope that our law enforcement officials will do what they can to uncover the truth.

Several of the allegations against Santos include: not working at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, or attending Baruch College or New York University. His grandparents were not Holocaust victims and there is no evidence that he was Jewish.

I never claimed to be Jewish, Santos told the Post. I am catholic. Because I learned that my maternal family was of Jewish origin, I said that I was Jewish.

Linda Beigel Schulman joined the rally on Thursday to condemn Santos for lying about being descended from Holocaust survivors, like her. She also criticized him for falsely claiming that some of his employees were killed in the Orlandos Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016. Her son, Scott Beigel, a geography teacher and cross-country coach, was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Massacre in Parkland, Florida. .

How dare you, George Santos?, says Beigel Schulman. How dare he try to score political points or gain sympathy by lying.

I know all too well and too deeply the sense of loss and grief of someone you love who has been killed by gun violence. Unfortunately, being lied to by our political leaders has become commonplace and, even worse, accepted, she continued.

Donnelly, the Nassau County District Attorney, said in a statement that Santoss’ fabrications are nothing short of stunning.

However, it will largely be up to Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who is set to be elected Speaker of the House, to decide whether to investigate the ethics of a college freshman. GOP. McCarthy has yet to comment.

We need answers from George Santos. It appears to be a complete and utter fraud. His whole life story was made up, new House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week.

Santos is among the slim majority of Republicans who will overthrow control of the House next year. In November, Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman by 20,000 votes by a 54-45 margin.

Joseph Cairo, the county’s longtime Republican Party chairman, said in a statement that if Santos broke public trust by making serious misrepresentations about his background, he should still serve his term in Congress.

George Santos, if his real name, does not belong in Congress because this moment is not about Democratic Republican politics, Zimmerman told the rally. This moment is about protecting our democracy, defending justice, uniting in unity.

Zimmerman and others accused the media of being too busy following incumbent Republican Rep. Lee Zeldins’ campaign for the governor to pay attention to Santos.

His lies only came to light last week after a report in The New York Times. The DCCC released a research paper in July typically used to help smear its GOP opponent with similar red flags.

Steve Israel, a congressman who served in the Santos district from 2001 to 2017 and former DCCC chairman, admitted in The Atlantic that his successor Tom Suozzi didn’t bother to do much research on the opposition in 2020 because Santos was a complete unknown.

Mr. Santos, his campaign wasn’t just dishonest. It was just a deluge of lies on the most basic issues. As for its load capacity. I felt I just had to speak. I just couldn’t stay silent about it, Israel later told WSHU.

Israel said it was almost inevitable that Santos would take office on Tuesday. While Santos argues he broke no laws, just being dishonest about his academic, professional and financial background, Democrats are asking the Federal Election Commission to also investigate the source of a $700,000 loan he gave to his own campaign.

How ironic that his first official act is to take the oath, Israel said. Having obtained his election by violating the fundamental oath that an elected official must take to his constituents and having lied throughout this process. At that time, Mr. Santos will face very serious legal and ethical issues in the House.

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