New York Republicans to speak out on ‘disgraced’ congressman George Santos

WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (Reuters) – New York Republicans plan on Wednesday to speak out against “disgraced” U.S. Representative-elect George Santos after revelations he fabricated much of his resume and life story during his campaign.

Their news conference, set for 11:30 a.m. ET (1630 GMT), comes two days after a nonpartisan watchdog accused Santos of violating campaign finance laws in a filing with the Federal Election Committee.

The Republican Party of Nassau County, New York, from the New York City suburb that includes most of Santos’ district, said dozens of county Republican officials would make “a big announcement about the disgraced House Member.” .

“The contingent of elected officials, candidates and party officials will make the strongest statement yet about the Nassau GOP’s position on Santos,” the party added in a statement.

Santos has admitted to fabricating much of his CV.

Republicans currently hold a narrow 222-212 majority in the US House of Representatives. He won the November race over Democrat Robert Zimmerman by a margin of 7.5 percentage points.

But his victory was quickly overshadowed by media reports suggesting that the persona he presented to voters was largely a work of fiction.

Among other claims, Santos said he had degrees from New York University and Baruch College, despite neither institution having records of his attendance. He claimed to have worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, which was also untrue.

He also falsely said he was Jewish and that his grandparents were saved by the Nazis during World War II.

Two House Democrats on Tuesday referred the matter to the House ethics committee this week. The local district attorney said her office is investigating Santos.

House Republican No. 2 Steve Scalise told reporters Tuesday that the party was looking into the issue.

“This is something that is being handled internally,” Scalise told reporters on Tuesday. “Obviously there were concerns about what we had heard and so we will have to sit down and talk to him about that.”

Reporting by Gram Slattery; Editing by Scott Malone and Mark Porter

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Slattery Gram

Thomson Reuters

Washington-based correspondent covering campaigns and Congress. Previously posted in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Santiago, Chile, and has reported extensively throughout Latin America. Co-winner of the 2021 Reuters Journalist of the Year award in the business coverage category for a series on corruption and fraud in the oil industry. He was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Harvard College.