Embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has largely been a distraction since being elected, and now it’s being reported that several of his confidants and his background check vendor saw it coming.
In late 2021, Santos gave the go-ahead for his campaign to commission a background check on him. Some of the results startled his associates so much that they implored him to drop out of the race for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, sources told the New York Times.
Santos ignored that advice.
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Santos refused to accept some of the core findings of the background check, which was conducted by a Washington-based firm. He was determined to remain in the contest despite warnings of looming public humiliation over the web of deception the background check suggested he spun.
Santos’s defiance prompted some members of his campaign to quit, per the report.
Ultimately, Santos went on to defeat Democrat Rob Zimmerman by a considerable margin, aided by redistricting upheaval in New York. He had previously lost to incumbent Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) in 2020.
Questions about his background emerged from a local newspaper, the North Shore Leader, around September 2022, but the questions raised didn’t gain traction until after his victory. Multiple reports have accused him of embellishing swaths of his resume and details about his personal life. This includes multiple claims that he was a “descendant” of Holocaust survivors and that he earned a degree from New York University.
A flurry of Democrats and even some Republicans have slammed Santos following the revelations. Santos has since admitted that he exaggerated some elements of his past, but he spurned calls to step down. He has even left the door open to running for reelection in 2024.
“Look, I’ve worked my entire life,” Santos said on the War Room podcast Thursday. “I’ve lived an honest life. I’ve never been accused of … any bad doings, so, you know, it’s … the equity of my hard-working self, and I’ve invested inside of me.”
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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has so far declined to join a chorus of voices calling for Santos’s resignation. He argues that “the voters of his district have elected him.”
The GOP has treaded carefully around Santos.
Santos is also facing scrutiny over his expenses on his campaign filings for the 2022 midterm cycle. Two House Democrats filed an ethics complaint against him earlier in the week, calling for an investigation of his financial disclosure for filing them late and allegedly omitting key details.
