Less than a minute after Republican deputy George Santos published a tribute to American hero Martin Luther King on his Twitter, celebrated on a holiday on Monday (16), the politician’s profile has already been flooded with comments.
Some, softer and more direct, said: “Resign now”. Others appealed to acid humor. “Thank you for participating in the march in Selma, you are an incredible politician”, wrote one person, in reference to the events that the leader of the black movement in the USA promoted in 1965. “I am sure that this day carries a special meaning for you because it was his godfather and karate master,” replied another, doubling down on irony.
The sarcastic messages from ordinary people, purposely fantasizing about the congressman’s past, help to summarize what Santos’ life has become since the lies he told to be elected began to surface a month ago. Added to these investigations, in the US and Brazil, and pressure for him to resign, in one of the most bizarre cases in the recent history of American politics.
Who is George Santos? George Anthony Devolder Santos, 34, is a New York politician elected by the Republican Party to the US House of Representatives, where he took office this month, in the new legislature.
A staunch supporter of former President Donald Trump, Santos had his life turned upside down after the election, when The New York Times showed that he lied about various aspects of life to attract voters from his district —from his academic and professional curriculum. sources of income and family origins. He would later come under investigation for his campaign accounts as well.
What is his relationship with Brazil? Santos is the son of Brazilian parents and, as far as we know, was born in Queens, New York. He speaks fluent Portuguese, without a foreign accent, and has lived for some periods in Brazil. A supporter of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL), he met with Brazilian federal deputy Eduardo Bolsonaro (PL-SP) before being elected, with records published on social media.
Before the current scandal came to light, he received Bolsonarist deputy Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) and commentator Paulo Figueiredo (grandson of the last president of the Military Dictatorship, João Figueiredo) in the USA.
How did the first suspicions arise? Santos was already relatively well known in the region for which he was elected since he ran for deputy in 2020, unsuccessfully, and contested the defeat. Prior to the 2022 midterms, a local Long Island newspaper, The North Shore Leader, wrote that it even wanted to support a Republican candidate in the district, but noted that “the nominee [Santos] it’s so bizarre, unprincipled and rudimentary” that it couldn’t do it. The outlet endorsed Democrat Robert Zimmerman, who lost.
The North Shore Leader drew attention to the fact that the candidate lived in a simple house while boasting of wealth and cited the strangeness that a local politician reported with the rapid evolution of his wealth in the two years between one election and another.
On December 19, the New York Times revealed a series of lies. The text showed that Santos claimed to have experience in the financial market, but the two Wall Street firms he cited, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, had no record of him as an employee. The university where he claimed to have studied, Baruch College, did not have a record of him as a student either. The story of Jewish ancestors fleeing Nazism in Europe lacked references. The newspaper even rescued an accusation in the Brazilian Justice, for stealing a checkbook in Niterói in 2008, among other cases.
Santos accused the Times of political persecution, but the web of poorly told stories was unraveling. He lied about his mother being an executive who died of smoke inhalation in the 9/11 attacks on the Twin Towers—she actually died 15 years after the attack and worked as a cleaner and carer. And about four former employees being killed in the attack on the gay Pulse nightclub in 2016 – there is no record that any of the 49 victims worked for the companies he cited.
What weighs against Santos? New allegations against the Brazilian-American, of all kinds, continue to appear. This Wednesday (18), for example, he was accused by an ex-military man of having organized a fundraiser to pay for surgery on the veteran’s dog, who at the time lived on the street, and having stolen the US$ 3,000.
The implication of the lies told is not yet known, but there are investigations opened by federal prosecutors and prosecutors in New York. One accusation that could be damaging was sending emails to supporters offering visits to Congress in exchange for “donations” of up to $500 – which is not allowed under House rules. In Brazil, the Public Prosecutor’s Office of RJ also decided to reopen the process for embezzlement, which was suspended because authorities were unable to locate him. The action now runs in secrecy.
The biggest headache, however, comes from campaign accounts. With a history of financial difficulties and eviction processes, Santos declared in official records that he invested US$700,000 in his election — and there are doubts about the source of that money. An indictment filed with the Federal Election Committee (FEC), which monitors campaign spending, claims he concealed the real donors and used funds to pay personal expenses, which is irregular.
One of the declared donors of his campaign is the businessman Andrew Intrater, cousin of the Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, target of sanctions of the American government. A prolific Republican supporter, Intrater invested at least US$30,000 in Santos’ election. The Washington Post newspaper showed that the relationship between the two is old and that a donor firm made a contribution of US$ 625,000 in a company for which Santos worked in Florida.
Another well-known Republican supporter who financed Santos is the Chinese Cheng Gao, who put US$ 11,200 in the campaign. The son of Brazilians also received donations and support from the family of Italian Rocco Oppedisano, arrested in 2019 for illegally transporting immigrants from the Bahamas to Florida.
How is life for George Santos in Congress? Since he took office he has had little peace, being sought out by reporters at any appearance in the halls. In the early days, he was isolated in sessions of the long running election for Speaker of the House, his toxic presence reinforced by Democratic opponents.
Over the days, however, he got closer to radical republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene, supporter of conspiracy theories like QAnon. Now, as proof of her resilience and that she has overcome resistance to him, she must take up vacancies in two commissions: Small Business and Science, Space and Technology.
What holds him in office, then? Precisely the fragility of the republicans in the current legislature. The party won a majority in the House in the midterms, but, with 222 seats, it only has 4 deputies more than the minimum necessary – that is, a minimum margin of internal dissent, and every vote matters.
Removing Santos from the House would imply a new election, because in the US there is no substitute figure, as in Brazil. Given the wear and tear and the fact that his district is a pendulum type (that is, without clear party preference), the seat could go back to a Democrat in the extraordinary election.
Another factor is the new Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, whose leadership is contested even among Republicans, to the point that it took almost a week to be elected to the position – which had not happened for a century and a half. He needs Santos by his side because, in the process, he weakened himself politically, giving in to the party’s radical wing and agreeing to a new rule that allows for the opening of a vote to remove him from office any time a deputy wants to do so. it. On this tightrope, he avoids blunt criticism, to have the support of the Brazilian-American.
What does the Republican Party think? The legend gives mixed signals. At the same time that Santos is expected to take up positions on committees in the Chamber, supporters have increased public criticism of him. On Sunday (15), the chairman of the Oversight Committee, James Comer, said that Santos is at risk. “It’s not up to me to determine if he can be expelled for lying. Now, if he broke campaign finance laws, he will be removed,” he told CNN, calling his colleague “a bad guy.”
The greatest pressure comes from Nassau County, where the district that elected Santos is located. Local party chief Joseph G. Cairo Jr. said the politician has lost the trust of Republicans. “He has shamed the House, we don’t consider him one of us,” he said, calling for his immediate resignation.
What does Santos say? Very little. He did not respond to attempts to contact Sheet and has avoided journalists. After the first report in the Times, she said through a lawyer that she was the victim of political persecution. Afterwards, in an interview with the New York Post, he admitted to having lied, but stated that his sin was having “embellished” his resume, not being a criminal either in the US or in Brazil. To the Semafor portal, he said that his recent fortune comes from intermediating financial deals for entrepreneurs.
“The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life as I work to deliver results. I will not be distracted or disturbed by this,” he wrote on Twitter on Thursday. Despite the increasingly high frying, Santos repeats frequently that he will not resign.
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