Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) is now being investigated by federal and local prosecutors after publicly admitting to lying about his job experience and college education during his campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, according to the New York Times.
The U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn has launched a federal investigation focusing, at least in part, on Santos' financial dealings during his recent campaign, which is said to be in its early stages, a source familiar with the situation confirmed to the Times.
A separate local investigation was launched by the Nassau County, N.Y., district attorney's office, which said it was probing “numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-elect Santos" during his campaign to represent New York's 3rd District, which includes some Long Island suburbs and parts of Queens.
The progression of the Nassau County inquiry was unclear at the time of publication on Thursday (December 29), according to the Times.
Santos, who recently flipped the district previously won by President Joe Biden and fellow Democrat Tom Suozzi in the 2020 election, admitted to lying about his background during his campaign in an exclusive interview with the New York Post published on Monday (December 26), but insisted that the controversy won't stop him from serving his upcoming two-year term in Congress, which is set to begin in January.
“I am not a criminal,” Santos said. “This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”
Santos' experience and educational background was publicly questioned after the New York Times reported that he'd misrepresented several claims, which included claiming he'd received a degree from Baruch in 2010 despite having never graduated from any college and falsely claiming that he had worked for high-profile Wall Street firms.
“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos said via the Post.
Santos admitted that he "never worked directly" for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, describing previous claims that he had as a "poor choice of words."
The 34-year-old is now claiming that he instead worked as the vice president of a company called Link Bridge which had conducted business with both financial companies.
“I will be clearer about that. It was stated poorly,” Santos added.
Santos was also accused of lying about claims that his mother was Jewish and his grandparents escaped the Nazis during World War II, having now admitted that he's "clearly Catholic" but that his grandmother had told him stories about being Jewish and later converting.
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos told the Post. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.'”
Santos was elected to Congress to represent New York's 3rd District on November 8, having previously ran unsuccessfully in 2020.