A criminal investigation was launched against newly elected Republican Congressman George Santos for falsifying his resume. In a statement released yesterday by several major US media outlets, prosecutor Ann Donnelly said the “lies and inconsistencies” associated with Santos were “simply staggering”.
She added that residents of Nassau County “need an honest and accountable representative in Congress.” “No one is above the law and if a crime is committed in this county, we will prosecute the perpetrators.”
He admitted major forgery
Santos, who won a seat in New York’s midterm elections in November, admitted in an interview Monday that he falsified his resume. Contrary to what has been said, he never worked for the banks Goldman Sachs and Citigroup nor did he ever earn a college degree. In addition, Santos told the New York Post that, contrary to what was claimed during the election campaign, he was not Jewish, but Catholic.
“I’m not a criminal”
Santos apologized for what he himself said had “embellished” his resume. But Santos has rejected calls from the Democratic Party to give up his congressional seat. “I am not a criminal,” he told the New York Post.
Several Democrats have called for Kevin McCarthy, the incumbent Republican minority leader in the House of Representatives, to put the decision to expel Santos to a vote if he does not resign of his own accord.
The Republican Santos helped his party secure a narrow majority of 222 to 212 seats in the House of Representatives by defeating Democratic challenger Robert Zimmerman in the Democratic stronghold of New York in the midterm elections. In the Senate, the other chamber of Congress, the Democrats held the majority.
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