George Santos prepares for swearing-in, hobbled by allegations and probes

Republican George Santos is scheduled to be sworn-in to the House of Representatives Tuesday, trailed by allegations that he fabricated information about his work history, educational background and personal finances.

Santos, 34, will represent New York's 3rd Congressional District, which extends from northern Queens through the North Shore of Nassau County, and into Levittown and Massapequa.

Last week, Santos admitted to lying about material parts of his resume, including that he had graduated from Baruch College and New York University, worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and that his grandparents had fled Europe for Brazil during the Holocaust.

He also told news outlets last week that he was not "Jewish," but actually, "Jew-ish."

Santos has vowed to take office, and is fundraising off his swearing-in.

According to a recent campaign flyer obtained by Newsday, contributors can pay $100 for attendee "status" or $500 for "VIP status," which gets them a "roundtrip bus from NY to DC, [a] luncheon, swearing-in ceremony, & Team Santos Tour of Capitol Grounds." 

New Reps. Anthony D'Esposito (R-Island Park) and Nick LaLota (R-Amityville), and incumbent Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) are not fundraising off their swearing-in ceremonies.

Last week, prominent Long Island Republicans who backed Santos for Congress condemned Santos' responses to the allegations as insufficient and offensive.

LaLota called for a House Ethics Committee probe.

Nassau Republican Chairman Joseph Cairo said in a statement: "I don't know what party would endorse him as a candidate … This Republican committee will not support George Santos in 2024."

Investigations

The Nassau County District Attorney's Office, the Queens District Attorney's Office and State Attorney General's Office have said they are looking into Santos, although they did not say exactly what was under review.

State Attorney General Letitia James' office said there was no update on Monday. 

A spokesman for Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly, a Republican, said there were no updates as of Monday.

The Queens District Attorney, which said last week it was "reviewing whether Queens County has jurisdiction over any potential criminal offenses," involving Santos, had no update Monday, a spokeswoman said.

United States attorneys for the Eastern District of New York, which includes Nassau, Suffolk and Queens, also are looking into Santos' public filings, ABC News and CBS News reported last week.

A source familiar with the matter told The New York Times that federal prosecutors were reviewing, in part, Santos' financial dealings.

John Marzulli, a spokesman for the Eastern District, had no comment on Monday.

Also, Brazilian authorities have reopened a criminal matter involving Santos, the Times reported Monday.

Prosecutors said they intended to revive charges of fraud filed against Santos, stemming from a 2008 incident involving a stolen checkbook, now that his "whereabouts [were] identified," according to the Times story.

College and work experience

Santos has said he was an "associate asset manager" at Citigroup, and also worked at Goldman Sachs.

Officials from Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have said they had no record of his employment.

Santos also had said he graduated Baruch and NYU, both in Manhattan, but representatives of the schools said they had no record of his graduation.

Santos told the New York Post on Dec. 26: "I didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning. I’m embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume. I own up to that … We do stupid things in life.”

Santos said as a vice president at LinkBridge investors he "did extensive work" with Goldman Sachs and "extensive work with Citigroup."

He told WABC Radio last week: "The way it stated on the resume, 'doing work for.' I have worked for, not on or at, or in. Yeah, I understand that and let that be a lesson learned for everybody," 

Santos also changed his account of having managed employees who died at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, where a gunman shot and killed 49 people on June 12, 2016.

In November'22, Santos said on WNYC radio there were "people that work for me in the club. My company, at the time, we lost four employees that work that were at Pulse nightclub."

Asked about the matter last week, Santos told WABC Radio: "That worked for me directly? No. But we did have people who were being hired to work for the company at the time … I was in Florida during the Pulse nightclub shooting … But yes, we did lose four people who were going to be coming to work for the company I was starting up in Orlando." 

Jewish heritage & the Holocaust

Santos has told a story about his maternal grandparents' escape from religious persecution during the Holocaust. He's also called himself a "Jewish American."

Santos said at one point his grandparents fled Ukraine during the Holocaust, settled in Belgium and then moved to Brazil.

The news site Jewish Insider, which used a genealogist in its research on Santos, reported that Santos' grandparents were apparently born in Brazil.

Santos told news outlets he actually was "Jew-ish." 

Santos told the New York Post that he had "never claimed to be Jewish."

But according to The Forward, a news outlet for a Jewish American audience, Santos wrote to Jewish organizations that he was a "proud American Jew."

Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group of Jewish political donors to Republicans, said Santos, "deceived us and misrepresented his heritage. In public comments and to us personally, he previously claimed to be Jewish. He has begun his tenure in Congress on a very wrong note. He will not be welcome at any future RJC event."

Questions about properties and finances

Santos said during his campaign he owned 13 properties. 

Last week, he conceded to the Post: “George Santos does not own any properties.”

Experts also have questioned his financial disclosure reports to the Clerk of the House.

In 2020, during his unsuccessful campaign against former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove), Santos listed as his only source of income a commission bonus from LinkBridge Investors, valued in excess of $5,000.

In his 2022 disclosure, Santos reported assets valued as high as $11.25 million.

High spending on flights, meals, hotels

Newsday reported last week that Santos spent more than Long Island's three other Republican House candidates, as well as his Democratic opponent Robert Zimmerman, on flights, hotels and restaurants during his campaign for Congress.

Experts called Santos' spending over the two-year election cycle lavish and unusual for a nonincumbent seeking a New York House seat.

Santos spent more than $103,000 on restaurants, hotels and flights, according to federal data analyzed by Newsday.

Many of the dinners and hotel stays occurred outside New York, Federal Election Campaign filings show.

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler covers Nassau County government and politics for Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.