He lied to death. AND this wednesday he was arrested for 13 charges that include everything from money laundering to the theft of public funds. This is the story of the Republican congressman from New York George Santos, who -at the height of his deceptions- came to say “the truth still matters”.
Famous for tangle of falsehoods who plotted to be elected Congressman, Santos was arrested and charged with thirteen counts, according to the Justice Department.
The thirteen charges have to do with crimes of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and perjuryaccording to the official document.
Santos was scheduled to appear this Wednesday afternoon before a federal judge in the Central Islip district of Suffolk County, Eastern New York.
The whole Santos case is hilarious. It is the story of an imposter and a mythomaniac.
Far from being punished by the widespread criticism, the ridicule of every primetime TV show and the rejection it garnered after admitting he made it up many (too many) aspects of his life story, when Santos was elected continued happily in Congress.
And he refused to resign. And he recently announced his plans for him to be re-elected.
“I’ve been chosen by people to come here to represent them, and I do it every day,” Santos told the Associated Press in a brief interview outside the House.
“It’s hard work. If I told you it was easy, I’d be lying to you and I don’t think that’s what we want, right?”
Pressed on the post-truth idea, Santos said: “I think the truth still matters a lot.”
Details of the charges will be disclosed when Santos appears before the judge. When asked on Tuesday, when rumors of his arrest were already spreading, he replied: “This is new for me”.
The lies
The New York Republican admitted to lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street background, college degrees and a past as a volleyball player.
Serious questions have also been raised about his finances, including the source of what he claimed to be a fortune he quickly amassed despite recent financial problems, including evictions and debts for thousands of dollars in back rent.
He said his lies about his life story, which included telling people he had jobs at various global financial firms and a lavish real estate portfolio, were harmless embellishments on his resume.
The pressure to step down came from all sides.
Journalists and members of the public they harassed him. He was mocked on social media and late night television. His fellow New York Republicans have called for his resignation, saying he had betrayed voters and his own party with his lies.
Nassau County prosecutors and the New York Attorney General’s office previously said they were investigating possible violations of the law.
In addition to doubts about his life story, campaign expenses de Santos fed check on unusual payments for travel, accommodation and other items.
The nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission and urged regulators to investigate Santos.
THE “mountain of lies” that Santos disclosed during the campaign about his life story and qualifications, the center said, should lead the commission to “thoroughly investigate what appear to be similar lies about how your campaign raised and spent money”.
In his filings with the FEC, Santos initially said he had loaned his campaign and related political action committees more than $750,000, money he said came from a family affair.
However, the wealth needed to make those loans looks like they came out of nowhere. In a financial disclosure statement filed with the clerk of the US House of Representatives in 2020, Santos said that he had no assets and had an annual income of $55,000.
An invented life and a mystery: who is Santos?
Santos lost his first congressional race in 2020, but ran again in 2022, winning a district that is in suburban Long Island and a small sliver of Queens.
A local paper, the North Shore Leader, had raised questions about Santos’ background before the election, but it wasn’t until weeks after the election that it became public. the depth of its duplicity.
The New York Times reported that the companies Santos claimed to have worked for, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, they had no record that it had been employed. This was stated by Baruch College, where Santos said he majored in finance and economics I hadn’t been a student.
Beyond his resume, Santos has concocted a life story that has also been disputed, including claims that his grandparents “they fled Jewish persecution in Ukrainethey settled in Belgium and again fled persecution during World War II.
During his campaign, he referred to himself as “a proud American Jew”.
When asked about that story, Santos, a Roman Catholiche said he never intended to claim Jewish heritage.
The Times also found out records in Brazil which show that Santos, when he was 19 years old, underwent aa investigative criminal there in 2008 for allegations that used stolen checks buy clothes in a clothing store in the city of Niteroi, near Rio de Janeiro. janeiro. Brazilian authorities said they had reopened the case.
Associated press
ap
Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.