WASHINGTON. The story of George Santos is very similar to those stories in which fantasy surpasses reality. Because the questions about how a 34-year-old man whose track record is littered with countless lies and scams could have come to occupy a seat, for the state of New York, in Congress in Washington, are more than the answers. We know everything about Santos, but the trouble is that we discovered him when he had already sworn.
Since yesterday Santos is also indicted on 13 counts – tax fraud, money laundering, misrepresentation and the embezzlement of public funds – and faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted. His political career ends here, regardless of whether his political boss, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy presses for him to resign immediately or waits for a possible conviction to oust him. In 2024, his name will not be on the ballot for re-election. For now Santos will vote in the hall but will not be part of parliamentary commissions, he belongs to two.
So who is Santos? He has been a deputy for five months after failing to bid for the seat in 2020. To present his candidacy, she had peppered his resume with a string of lies which, if they cast a gloomy shadow over him, do not even acquit the generally scrupulous US media: no one has bothered to verify at least part of his claims . Santos said that he had worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, that he had two degrees, that his mother had died in the attack on the Twin Towers. None of this is true. During the rallies in his college she had also told imaginative stories, portraying herself as a rich descendant of Ukrainian survivors of the Holocaust, to the point of calling herself Anthony or presenting herself with her mother’s surname at meetings with voters. No reporter had called his school to verify who that boy was – openly gay, an ex-boyfriend in Brazil who poisoned every story about him – popping up out of nowhere and capable of winning a seat in a traditionally democratic district.
But if lies have short legs and aren’t a felony (except when used to certify false federal documents to validate a candidate), accounting tricks and money laundering Yes. The legal troubles for Santos are linked to the use of money donated to a fake PAC (Political Action Committee, named Redstone Strategies) for personal expenses and to guarantee himself some luxuries and extras. In October 2022, a friend of Santos’s had contacted several donors to whom he explained that Redstone was an association cataloged as a “501 (c) 4”, that is, an organization for the promotion of welfare without limits in fundraising. The leaders explained to the donors that their money would go to the Republican campaign and TV commercials. In October, for example, a transfer of 25,000 dollars to the group arrived. They were used by Santos to pay off personal debts and buy designer products.
Among the accusations there is also the fact that Santos claimed unemployment benefits during the pandemic years. He received $24,000 in benefits while actually working for a Florida corporation that paid him $120,000 a year.
The lying deputy he also duped the Congressional Ethics Committee by filling out the income tax form. In fact, he declared falsehoods in 2020 and 2022, reporting incomes lower than the real ones.
George Santos, the curriculum does not add up: inconsistencies, lies and mysteries of the Republican deputy elected in New York
FRANCESCO SEMPRINI
Yesterday morning Santon showed up at the Central Islip prosecutor’s office dodging reporters and camera crews. He entered through a secondary door and it is not known whether he arrived in a police car or in his personal car. Yesterday afternoon he was formally indicted, his fingerprints were taken, his mugshots were taken and he appeared before the judge.
The Santos affair has important implications for Republicans and balanced Capitol Hill. McCarthy needs every vote given the narrow majority (5 votes) the Republicans have. But he certainly cannot let the seriousness of the accusations slide. Mitt Romney, a Republican senator and Obama’s rival in 2012, commented that the “wheel of justice turns slowly but sooner or later it comes to fruition”.