Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is nearing another vote that could expel him from Congress, a move that follows a slew of lies and accusations that have landed the Republican in hot water.
Earlier this year, Santos escaped two attempts to expel him from Congress, followed by a third on November 1. He had previously admitted to lying about aspects of his identity and was indicted this year on criminal charges related to his campaign finances.
More recently, a House ethics report was released following an investigation into the representative, revealing even more alarming actions from his past.
The lies and accusations piled up, and now Santos faces another expulsion vote on Thursday.
Since the first expulsion vote, Santos has announced he will not run for re-election, saying expulsion from Congress would be a shame. “badge of honor.”
From lies about a secret drag queen past to misusing campaign finance, Santos has collected a list of both serious and ridiculous lies and accusations. Here are six wild moments from the saga surrounding Santos’ demise.
His resume? All lies.
Santos dragged a series of lies about his college education, employment history and identity through his 2021 campaign trail — and this year they finally caught up with him.
As a candidate for New York Representative Santos claimed that he had graduated summa cum laude from Baruch College, had an MBA from New York University, had worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, and was of Jewish descent.
All these statements, among others, were refuted. Last year he admitted the claims were untrue, describing some of them as “embellishments” to his resume.
His anti-LGBTQ stance was tested by the revelation of his drag queen past.
While there is nothing wrong with trolling, it does become a problem if you are a member of Congress and strongly support anti-LGBTQ legislation. Santos’ conservative stance came under fire after reports emerged showing that he performed in Brazilian drag performances.
In January, a Brazilian drag performer posted a photo on social media of herself with another person dressed in drag, who she claimed was Santos. The New York congressman quickly denied the claims, writing in a letter after on X that the reports were “categorically false” and “scandalous.”
“The media’s latest obsession claiming that I am a drag queen or ‘performed’ as a drag queen is categorically false,” he wrote on X. “The media continues to make outrageous claims about my life as I work toward results. I will not let this distract or mislead me.”
But when pressed by reporters about this, Santos seemed to backtrack and suggest he was the one in the photo posted by the drag artist.
“No, I wasn’t a drag queen in Brazil, guys. I was young and having fun at a festival. Sue me because I have a life,” Santos told reporters in January. according to NBC News.
Santos allegedly spoofed an animal charity and defrauded a disabled veteran and his sick service dog.
In January, a disabled Navy veteran alleged Santos defrauded him in 2016, when he was homeless and his service dog was sick. The representative reportedly Raised $3,000 to pay for surgery for the assistance dog. But the veteran said he never received the money.
According to reports, a person named Anthony Devolder – a version of Santos’ full name – contacted the veteran and said his organization, Friends of Pets United, could help remove a tumor from the dog’s stomach. Santos then set up a GoFundMe to raise the $3,000, which was reportedly never sent to the veteran.
On X, Santos denied allegations of the scam and wrote: “The reports of me letting a dog die are shocking and insane. My work in animal protection was a labor of love and hard work.”
During his campaign, Santos claimed to have set up that animal charity – and an investigation by The New York Times revealed that Santos used the organization to raise money but then pocketed the donations.
He suggested that Chinese communists had kidnapped his niece.
During a interview with Time in October, Santos spoke about how his opposition to the Chinese Communist Party endangered a member of his family.
Santos suggested that people linked to the Chinese Communist Party had kidnapped his five-year-old niece for a brief period in Queens, New York, explaining that she disappeared from a playground in the city and was seen on security footage 40 minutes later with two Chinese men.
“Look, I don’t want to get into conspiracy theories,” Santos said. “But you know, if the shoe fits, right?”
But there was no evidence indicating his niece had been kidnapped at all, let alone by someone associated with the Chinese Communist Party.
“We haven’t found anything at all to indicate it’s true,” a senior law enforcement official told the Times. “I leaned into, ‘He made it up.’”
He also allegedly defrauded his campaign donors and stole their identities.
With all the recent reports, investigations and criminal charges, Santos’ campaign finance abuse and lies to donors are at the top of everyone’s radar.
Santos allegedly stole the identities of campaign donors and charged thousands of dollars to their credit cards without their consent. Part of the money would also have ended up in his own bank account.
The representative was indicted earlier this year on 23 counts of fraud, money laundering, identity theft and making false statements. He pleaded not guilty and will face a criminal trial in September 2024.
Reports also showed that Santos had spent $26,000 in campaign money at an Italian restaurant in Queens, New York.
And he spent campaign money on OnlyFans, Botox and more.
The damning House ethics report released earlier this month exposed another lie by Santos.
After a months-long investigation into Santos, the report alleged that he campaign funds spent on a range of services and products for herself, including Botox, Sephora, spa treatments, an OnlyFans subscription and luxury accessories.
Santos called the report “biased” and claimed that the House of Representatives ethics committee would go to “extraordinary lengths” to smear him.