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George Santos news - live: Republican congressman quits committees ‘to avoid drama’ as past lies draw scrutiny

Embattled GOP congressman George Santos has announced he will step down from his committee assignments after meeting with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday.

Mr Santos continues to be at the centre of a growing number of scandals. The New York lawmaker was spotted coming out of Mr McCarthy’s office but refused to confirm the meeting to reporters.

The GOP leader then confirmed to CNN that he had met with Mr Santos.

The meeting comes as pressure continues to mount on Mr McCarthy to take action after the freshman congressman has been exposed as a serial liar and is now believed to be facing a criminal investigation by the Justice Department (DOJ).

In recent days, the DOJ gave its clearest sign yet it had launched a criminal probe into his campaign finances, by asking the Federal Election Commission to postpone any of its own enforcement while they conduct a parallel investigation.

Meanwhile, Mr Santos also sparked further outrage for making a speech on the House floor on Friday remembering the Holocaust – after he was caught in a lie about being Jewish and his grandparents fleeing the Holocaust.

Key points

  • George Santos and Kevin McCarthy have mystery meeting amid scandals

  • FEC sends letter to Santos campaign requesting answers after treasurer change

  • Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace calls on George Santos to resign: ‘That guy does not cut it’

  • Santos flees questions about treasurer listed on forms who says he didn’t work for campaign

  • Santos gets into Twitter spat with Trixie Mattel of RuPaul’s Drag Race

Keep up with George Santos’s growing list of lies

21:45 , John Bowden

It can be difficult keeping up with the list of fictions that George Santos has been accused of telling, admitted telling, or merely been caught spinning red-handed following a contradictory statement.

But, do not fret: The Independent is here, and we’re keeping track of the whole list of lies even as it continues to grow — both in number and in the sheer scale of the humiliation that it presents for not just Mr Santos, who remains adamant that he will serve two years in office as representative for New York’s third district, but for the Republican House caucus as a whole.

Every lie George Santos has been accused of making

Why George Santos could still end up being ousted from Congress after resigning from his committees

19:59 , John Bowden

George Santos on Tuesday announced that he would voluntarily step down from two House committees in order to “avoid drama” as he remains engulfed in a scandal resulting from his numerous lies about his background.

But that self-inflicted pariahship might not be the end of the troubles Mr Santos faces in the weeks ahead.

Read more in The Independent:

Here’s how George Santos could still be removed from office

George Santos to step down from House committees after meeting with Kevin McCarthy

15:28 , John Bowden

George Santos will voluntarily step down from two House committees he recently joined after meeting Tuesday morning with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

The move comes after weeks of calls from Democrats for Mr McCarthy to do more to punish the freshman congressman who has now admitted to lying about much of his background and faces a federal investigation by the Justice Department.

George Santos to step down from House committees after meeting with Kevin McCarthy

New York Democrats slam George Santos after Holocaust Remembrance Day speech

13:15 , John Bowden

Democrats in New York are slamming GOP Representative and serial liar George Santos after he took to the House floor last week to deliver a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The embattled Republican congressman paid tribute to victims and survivors of the Nazi-era genocide and condemned antisemitism during his address.

“Antisemitism is a plague in this nation, and it is undoubtedly up to us to ensure this kind of tragedy is never to be seen again,” he said.

Why some were disgusted by his remarks:

New York Democrats slam George Santos after Holocaust Remembrance Day speech

Federal prosecutors said to be investigating George Santos as some donors can’t be found

12:30 , John Bowden

Federal prosecutors are likely looking into Republican Congressman George Santos’ campaign finances after the Justice Department asked the Federal Election Commission to postpone any enforcement action, sources told the Washington Post.

The development coincided with a Mother Jones investigation, which looked into donors to Mr Santos’s 2020 campaign, and discovered contact details for many people were incorrect, with addresses and names not only seeming not to match but often not to exist at all.

The Post reported that the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section asked the FEC to hold off on action as well as provide any relevant documents, according to knowledgeable sources speaking on condition of anonymity.

Read the full story here:

Federal prosecutors are already investigating George Santos, report says

George Santos lashes out at the media

11:45 , John Bowden

George Santos fumed on Twitter that the media is trying to “smear” him as he hit out at what he claimed to be “fake posts” and “clown” interviews.

“From interviewing clowns, to creating fake “posts” the media continues to down spiral as their attempt to smear me fails. I am getting the job I signed up for done, while you all spiral out of control,” he tweeted late on Thursday.

He did not detail what he was referring to but his comments came as a new report from Patch accused him of making a vile joke about Hitler and killing Jews and Black people.

In a 2011 comment on Facebook, obtained by Patch, Mr Santos allegedly wrote: “hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh hiiiiiiiiiiiitlerrrrrrrrrrr (hight hitler) lolololololololololololol sombody kill her!! the jews and black mostly lolllolol!!! Dum.”

Mr Santos’ former roommate confirmed the account’s validity to the outlet and said that the congressman used to often make antisemitic comments. An attorney for Mr Santos told Patch the Facebook post is “completely false”.

The allegation comes as the congressman has previously been caught in a lie about being Jewish and his grandparents fleeing the Holocaust. He later walked back the claims saying he was “Jew-ish”.

11:00 , John Bowden

George Santos has yet another headache coming his way, thanks to amended filings submitted to the FEC last week.

The embattled New York congressman was already facing calls for his resignation or ouster — from both parties — before his filings with the Federal Election Commission this week. Now, those filings are becoming the source of problem after problem, each with the potential to run afoul of the law.

The latest issue flagged by reporters with ABC News on Thursday stems from filings that several fundraising committees working on behalf of the Santos 2022 campaign made with the agency specifying a change in the individual assigned as treasurer for the committees. Those committees are now listed as having their financial operations overseen by Thomas Datwyler, a longtime specialist in political campaign finances.

But there’s just one problem: Mr Datwyler adamantly told ABC News that he is not working for the Santos campaign, and in fact had informed them of that before the FEC filings were submitted.

Read more:

Treasurer named in George Santos’ campaign says he doesn’t work for him

George Santos and Kevin McCarthy have mystery meeting

10:52 , Rachel Sharp

Embattled GOP congressman George Santos had a mystery meeting with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Monday as he continues to be at the centre of a growing number of scandals.

The New York lawmaker was spotted coming out of Mr McCarthy’s office but refused to confirm the meeting to reporters.

The GOP leader then confirmed to CNN that he had met with Mr Santos.

The meeting comes as pressure continues to mount on Mr McCarthy to take action after the freshman congressman has been exposed as a serial liar and is now believed to be facing a criminal investigation by the Justice Department (DOJ).

ICYMI: Santos gets into Twitter spat with Trixie Mattel of RuPaul’s Drag Race

09:30 , John Bowden

Trixie Mattel of RuPaul’s Drag Race and George Santos got into a feud on Twitter over the (now confirmed) rumours that the New York Congressman was a drag queen in the past.

WATCH: The imposter in Congress | On The Ground

06:30 , John Bowden

George Santos made waves on the political scene of Washington D.C. by flipping New York’s 3rd congressional district seat in the November midterms, a once reliable Democratic seat. But, soon, reports emerged that many things in his résumé and the life story told to the public wasn’t all strictly true. Santos is refusing to stand aside as the controversy mounts but how long can that position hold?

The Independent’s Senior US Correspondent Richard Hall visited Long Island and Nassau county to find out the truth, trying to track down the real George Santos.

Watch here:

VOICES: Give him some credit, George Santos has performed a valuable public service

05:00 , John Bowden

In the Long Island congressional district he was elected to represent, George Santos is a pariah.

He is the subject of almost daily protests and press conferences organised by local residents. The Nassau County Republican Party has disowned him, so too have six local Republican members of Congress. He is rarely seen out in public, or at his district office — even when Congress is on break.

His only safe space, it seems, is Washington DC.

This is electoral politics turned on its head. A member of Congress should, in theory, have more to fear from the snakepit of the Capitol than the people who elected them. The reason why Santos doesn’t tell us something about the state of the Republican Party today.

Read more:

Give him some credit, George Santos has performed a valuable public service

Former Santos roommate claims he threatened to send her ‘back to Brazil'

04:00 , John Bowden

A former roommate of Mr Santos has claimed that he threatened to have her sent back to Brazil when she confronted him about stealing her jewellery and money.

The roommate, Adriana Parizzi, told Mother Jones that Mr Santos “made it very clear that I was in his country...and at any point, if I opened my mouth, he could send me back to Brazil”.

The 55-year-old told the outlet that she bought the tickets for the two of them to fly to New York in February 2011.

“He didn’t have any money to go back and I was the way for him to leave Brazil,” she said.

“He always convinced people that everything was a big misunderstanding,” she added.

Mr Santos has rejected the claims.

“Everybody that has ever wanted to come for me is coming for me and they are making s*** up on the way, and I look very much forward to poking holes in all these people who are making these insane accusations without any corroborating evidence—because it is false,” he told The New York Times.

In George Santos’s district, setting of The Great Gatsby, cries of ‘imposter’ abound

03:00 , John Bowden

Long Island’s Gold Coast is known to many as the backdrop for a story about a fictional character who concocted fabulous tales about his past to climb the ranks of New York’s high society in a ceaseless quest for the object of his desire.

I’m talking, of course, about George Santos.

Nearly 100 years after F Scott Fitzgerald set The Great Gatsby in these same opulent shores, the 34-year-old Republican congressman has once again drawn the eyes of the world onto the eastward-stretching leg of New York City, and invited comparisons to the titular character of that Great American Novel along the way.

Where Jay Gatsby ultimately failed in his efforts, Santos succeeded in his. A man who repeatedly lied about his own history, from claiming his mother died on 9/11, to falsifying his education and net worth — not for love, but for donations, votes and influence — was elected to a seat in one of the most powerful legislative bodies in the world.

So, how did he do it? How did he fool so many people? How did no one know? The truth is, many did. But no one listened to them.

Read more:

In George Santos’s district, setting of The Great Gatsby, cries of ‘imposter’ abound

Man says business meeting with Santos felt like being in a ‘mafia movie'

02:00 , John Bowden

Christian Lopez met with Mr Santos in November 2020 at the Il Bacco Ristorante in Queens.

“I felt like we were in ‘Goodfellas,’ like we were in a mafia movie,” Mr Lopez told The Washington Post. “They were like, ‘Hello, I see you are here with George, right this way.’ Bringing us to this fancy restaurant and doing all this, I felt like he was doing it to capture us.”

“He was saying if you give me $300,000, I am going to make you money. I’m going to make you $3 million,” the 35-year-old added.

Mr Santos was working as the New York regional director at Harbor City Capital, a Florida investment firm, which the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in April 2021 has taken millions from investors in what they called a “classic Ponzi scheme”.

FEC sends letter to Santos campaign requesting answers after treasurer change

01:00 , John Bowden

The Federal Election Commission has sent a letter to the Santos campaign asking for more information on the paperwork submitted showing a new treasurer who claims he never took the job.

The Thursday letter states that Mr Santos’s campaign “may have failed to include the true, correct, or complete treasurer information” on the documents submitted on Wednesday showing that Thomas Datwyler is its new treasurer and the custodian of records.

Five separate fundraising committees received the same letter after they also sent in documents showing Mr Datwyler as their new treasurer.

The committees and the campaign have to respond before 2 March.

The FEC letter said that if they’re found to have provided a “materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” on the documents, they could face criminal charges.

GOP congresswoman reiterates call for Santos to resign

00:00 , John Bowden

Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina blasted embattled fellow GOP Representative George Santos of New York and said he should resign.

The South Carolina Republican spoke to The Independent in an exclusive interview.

“I mean, if you look at the allegations about his campaign finance, there are serious issues there,” she said.

Specifically, federal prosecutors are investigating irregularities regarding financial disclosures and loans, according to NBC News. “Nothing he has ever said has turned out to be true.”

“He should resign, but he won’t and if you watch the press gaggled up, chase him around Capitol Hill, he’s loving the attention,” she said. “He’s smiling and giggling and just soaking it up.”

Read more:

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace calls on George Santos to resign

Santos claims old Facebook post joking about Hitler was fabricated

Monday 30 January 2023 23:15 , John Bowden

Mr Santos allegedly commented on a photo posted by a friend on Facebook in March 2011 showing what seems to be a salute with the caption “something like Hitler”.

“hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh hiiiiiiiiiiiitlerrrrrrrrrrr (hight hitler) lolololololololololololol sombody kill her!! the jews and black mostly lolllolol!!! Dum” Mr Santos seemingly wrote.

On Friday he rejected the allegation, telling NBC News, “I have a black father and a Jewish ancestry. Let’s have a genuine conversation. It’s not real”.

Former roommate says Santos looks like ‘a lost, cornered person’

Monday 30 January 2023 22:30 , John Bowden

Adriana Parizzi, 55, flew with Mr Santos to the US from Brazil and once shared an apartment with him in New York City.

She told Mother Jones that she remembers him as being “playful and smiley ... singing and dancing, joking about everything”.

But she also called him a “dreamer” who liked expensive restaurants, designer fashion, pricey whiskey, and as someone who boasted about his connections.

When she sees him in the media walking the halls of Congress, she told the outlet that she thinks “he has the look of a lost, cornered person”.

Former Republican congressman blames lack of Trump accountability for Santos rise

Monday 30 January 2023 21:45 , John Bowden

A former Republican congressman is blaming Washington’s lack of accountability for former President Donald Trump for causing the rise of George Santos.

“George Santos is what you get when you don’t hold Donald Trump accountable,” Joe Walsh tweeted on Friday.

Jamie Raskin calls Santos ‘compulsive liar and conman’ as he blasts McCarthy

Monday 30 January 2023 21:00 , John Bowden

Maryland Democrat called Mr Santos a “compulsive liar” and a “con man” as he blasted Speaker Kevin McCarthy for blocking several Democrats from a number of committees.

“By refusing to seat Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar on their committees while seating compulsive liar and conman George Santos and bowing and scraping to compulsive liar and conman Donald Trump, Kevin McCarthy has shown America exactly what he believes in: nothing,” Mr Raskin tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.

Former Trump impeachment counsel blasts McCarthy for lack of action on Santos

Monday 30 January 2023 20:21 , John Bowden

The lead majority counsel in the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump, New York Representative Dan Goldman, took to Twitter on Thursday night to blast Speaker Kevin McCarthy for not booting Mr Santos of Congress.

“George Santos once made comments praising Hitler. As a candidate, he then lied about his grandparents being refugees from Hitler’s Holocaust. Yet @SpeakerMcCarthy still wants him in Congress. This is the Republican Party,” Mr Goldman wrote.

George Santos: Every lie disgraced incoming republican Congressman has been accused of making

Monday 30 January 2023 18:59 , John Bowden

It can be difficult keeping up with the list of fictions that George Santos has been accused of telling, admitted telling, or merely been caught spinning red-handed following a contradictory statement.

But, do not fret: The Independent is here, and we’re keeping track of the whole list of lies even as it continues to grow — both in number and in the sheer scale of the humiliation that it presents for not just Mr Santos, who remains adamant that he will serve two years in office as representative for New York’s third district, but for the Republican House caucus as a whole.

Go through the long (and growing) list with John Bowden in The Independent:

Every lie George Santos has been accused of making

New York Democrats slam George Santos after Holocaust Remembrance Day speech

Monday 30 January 2023 17:50 , John Bowden

Democrats in New York are slamming GOP Representative and serial liar George Santos after he took to the House floor last week to deliver a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The embattled Republican congressman paid tribute to victims and survivors of the Nazi-era genocide and condemned antisemitism during his address.

“Antisemitism is a plague in this nation, and it is undoubtedly up to us to ensure this kind of tragedy is never to be seen again,” he said.

Why some were disgusted by his remarks:

New York Democrats slam George Santos after Holocaust Remembrance Day speech

Treasurer named in George Santos’ campaign says he doesn’t work for him

Monday 30 January 2023 17:10 , John Bowden

The FEC has sent a letter to the Santos campaign asking for more information on the paperwork he filed last week with the agency erroneously designating a well-known campaign finance expert as a treasurer for several fundraising committees.

The embattled New York congressman was already facing calls for his resignation or ouster — from both parties — before his filings with the Federal Election Commission this week. Now, those filings are becoming the source of problem after problem, each with the potential to run afoul of the law.

Read more:

Treasurer named in George Santos’ campaign says he doesn’t work for him

Brazilian claiming to be Santos’ ex-boyfriend says congressman only ever cared about ‘fame and power’

Monday 30 January 2023 16:30 , John Bowden

A Brazilian individual claiming to be Rep George Santos’ ex-boyfriend appeared on CNN and said that Mr Santos only ever cared about “fame and power” and that he expects him to continue to reject calls for his resignation.

Pedro Vilarva has previously said that he entered into a romantic relationship with Mr Santos in 2014 when he was just 18 years old and the future Congressman was 26 — and that their relationship was full of dishonesty on Mr Santos’ part.

The Republican, elected to the US House in November and sworn in earlier this month, is facing an avalanche of claims that he lied about various aspects of his identity and past and engaged in questionable campaign finance practices.

Read more:

Ex-boyfriend claims George Santos only ever cared about ‘fame and power’

Federal prosecutors said to be investigating George Santos as some donors impossible to find

Monday 30 January 2023 15:27 , John Bowden

Federal prosecutors are likely looking into Republican Congressman George Santos’ campaign finances after the Justice Department asked the Federal Election Commission to postpone any enforcement action, sources told the Washington Post.

The development coincided with a Mother Jones investigation, which looked into donors to Mr Santos’s 2020 campaign, and discovered contact details for many people were incorrect, with addresses and names not only seeming not to match but often not to exist at all.

Sheila Flynn has the story:

Federal prosecutors are already investigating George Santos, report says

George Santos claimed Epstein may still be alive in 2020 interview

Monday 30 January 2023 14:00 , Rachel Sharp

Embattled GOP congressman George Santos claimed in August 2020 that Jeffrey Epstein “could still be alive” – one year after the paedophile killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell.

In a newly-resurfaced interview, Mr Santos – who has already been caught out over several lies about his past, background and family – claimed that he met Epstein a few times and pushed the conspiracy theory that he was “murdered” in prison.

Epstein was found dead in his cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking children. His death was ruled suicide.

Mr Santos then backtracked over his death altogether, claiming he may actually still be alive.

“I wouldn’t put it past me that he’s still walking around us and we’re all like, ‘Oh my god, the guy is alive,’ and we can’t tell,” he said. “You know what, it’s 2020, anything can happen.”

Every lie George Santos has been accused of making

Monday 30 January 2023 13:30 , Rachel Sharp

It can be difficult keeping up with the list of fictions that George Santos has been accused of telling, admitted telling, or merely been caught spinning red-handed following a contradictory statement.

But, do not fret: The Independent is here, and we’re keeping track of the whole list of lies even as it continues to grow — both in number and in the sheer scale of the humiliation that it presents for not just Mr Santos, who remains adamant that he will serve two years in office as representative for New York’s third district, but for the Republican House caucus as a whole.

Every lie George Santos has been accused of making

WATCH: George Santos, The imposter in Congress | On The Ground

Monday 30 January 2023 13:10 , Rachel Sharp

George Santos made waves on the political scene of Washington DC by flipping New York’s 3rd congressional district seat in the November midterms, a once reliable Democratic seat.

But soon reports emerged that many things in his resume and life story told to the public were lies.

The Independent’s Senior US Correspondent Richard Hall visited Long Island and Nassau county to find out the truth, trying to track down the real George Santos. Watch below:

Federal prosecutors said to be investigating George Santos as some donors impossible to find

Monday 30 January 2023 13:00 , Rachel Sharp

Federal prosecutors are likely looking into Republican Congressman George Santos’ campaign finances after the Justice Department asked the Federal Election Commission to postpone any enforcement action, sources told the Washington Post.

The development coincided with a Mother Jones investigation, which looked into donors to Mr Santos’s 2020 campaign, and discovered contact details for many people were incorrect, with addresses and names not only seeming not to match but often not to exist at all.

The Post reported that the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section asked the FEC to hold off on action as well as provide any relevant documents, according to knowledgeable sources speaking on condition of anonymity.

Read the full story here:

Federal prosecutors are already investigating George Santos, report says

George Santos sparks outrage with Holocaust speech

Monday 30 January 2023 12:52 , Rachel Sharp

Embattled GOP congressman George Santos has sparked outrage for making a speech remembering the Holocaust after he lied about his own Jewish heritage.

On the House floor on Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, Mr Santos paid tribute to victims and survivors and condemned antisemitism.

“Antisemitism is a plague in this nation, and it is undoubtedly up to us to ensure this kind of tragedy is never to be seen again,” he said.

“This is a tribute to aging survivors and the Jewish community. We must guarantee access to the services they need to live long and dignified lives. This day and every day, we give credence to the dark side of humanity, but try for a better brighter future.”

New York lawmaker Daniel Goldman called Mr Santos “appalling and offensive” for speaking about the Holocaust, given he has previously been caught in a lie about being Jewish and his grandparents fleeing the Holocaust.

Mr Santos – who has come under scrutiny for lying about much of his past – later walked back the claims about his heritage, saying he was “Jew-ish”.

Many of congressman’s top 2020 donors do not exist, report claims

Saturday 28 January 2023 20:29 , Richard Hall

Many of George Santos’s top donors do not exist or deny donating to the New York congressman’s campaign, according to an investigation by Mother Jones.

The magazine found found more than a dozen people listed on Mr Santos’s 2020 campaign finance reports — the year he first ran for the seat he would eventually win — for whom the name or address of the donor could not be confirmed.

“These questionable donations, which account for more than $30,000 of the $338,000 the Santos campaign raised from individual donors in 2020, have not been previously cited in media reports,” Mother Jones reported.

Department of Justice appears to be conducting criminal probe — report

Saturday 28 January 2023 15:19 , Richard Hall

The Department of Justice has given its clearest sign yet that it has launched a criminal probe into George Santos, according to a new report.

The Washington Post reveals that the DOJ has asked the Federal Election Commission to postpone any enforcement against Mr Santos while they conduct a parallel criminal investigation.

The request also asked for any relevant documents to be handed over to the DOJ, the newspaper reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.

The 34-year-old congressman was found to have told a litany of lies during his campaign for election, which attracted the attention of the DOJ and FED. And while he has admitted to “embellishing” his resume, he has refused to resign.

Santos claimed to have ‘personal relationship’ with California Retirement System CEO

Saturday 28 January 2023 14:30 , Gustaf Kilander

While working at the small Florida investment firm Harbor City, Mr Santos claimed to have “a personal relationship with Marcie Frost, the CEO of CalPERS”.

He said that they had had “a lot of good rapport for the past four years”.

“I’ve been involved in six of their deals, and it’s been just, you know, an official relationship,” he added, according to The Washington Post.

CalPERS – the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, rejected those claims, telling The Post that no one called George Santos or George Devolder “has any relationship with the pension fund’s CEO”.

“We have been unable to locate any records of any relationship, business or otherwise, with this individual,” a spokesperson told the paper.

Santos claims to have flipped over table in office of Blackstone CEO

Saturday 28 January 2023 13:45 , Gustaf Kilander

While working at the small Florida investment firm Harbor City, Mr Santos claimed to have flipped over a table in the office of Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman.

“I actually sat on a chair inside of Blackstone’s office on the day of the signing of a deal … and I flipped backwards, flipping the table on the chief executive … I flipped the table on Schwarzman,” he said during a Zoom meeting, according to The Washington Post.

“I walked out of there feeling like a completely incompetent idiot,” he added.

A spokesperson for Blackstone told The Post that Mr Schwarzman “has no recollection of any such incident or meeting Mr Santos, and we have found no record of Mr Santos having a business relationship with Blackstone”.

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace calls on George Santos to resign: ‘That guy does not cut it’

Saturday 28 January 2023 12:00 , Eric Garcia

Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina blasted embattled fellow GOP Representative George Santos of New York and said he should resign.

The South Carolina Republican spoke to The Independent in an exclusive interview.

“I mean, if you look at the allegations about his campaign finance, there are serious issues there,” she said.

Specifically, federal prosecutors are investigating irregularities regarding financial disclosures and loans, according to NBC News. “Nothing he has ever said has turned out to be true.”

Read more:

Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace calls on George Santos to resign

VIDEO: What Rep. George Santos’ fallout reveals about the news

Saturday 28 January 2023 11:15 , The Independent

Drag artist claims George Santos was liberal in Brazil but ‘went crazy’ when he moved to US

Saturday 28 January 2023 10:30 , John Bowden

A Brazilian drag artist who knew George Santos when he lived in the country revealed more about the congressman’s political past in a new interview with Insider.

Eula Rochard explained in her latest interview that Mr Santos had once been a proud supporter of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva — the current president of Brazil, who recently returned to office after successfully battling corruption charges he and his supporters argued were politically motivated.

His support for the president, who is best known by the moniker Lula, was centred around the latter’s support for LGBT rights, according to Ms Rochard.

“Lula promised to make laws to help us gays. They were all Lulistas and Anthony was too because he hung out with us,” said Ms Rochard, referring to the congressman by one of the names he used to go by.

“He wasn’t a bad person,” Ms Rochard added of Mr Santos when he lived in Brazil. “He was a regular gay teenager in a country where there were no laws protecting gay people.”

Read more:

Drag artist claims George Santos was liberal but ‘went crazy’ when he moved to US

From the first questions to GOP blowback : A timeline of George Santos’ many scandals

Saturday 28 January 2023 09:45 , John Bowden

George Santos is officially a member of Congress following a marathon vote to select the GOP’s Speaker of the House and the swearing-in of the 118th Congress.

But it wasn’t even clear that he would make it this far: Dogged by surely one of the oddest scandals to hit American politics in the last few years, Mr Santos was facing calls for his expulsion and resignation even before he was seated as representative for New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

While the freshman Republican remains adamant that he will serve two years in the House of Representatives, he still faces growing calls for his resignation and the continued threat of investigations reportedly launched by both state and federal authorities.

Read more:

From first questions to GOP rebukes : A timeline of George Santos’ many scandals

Former boyfriend says Santos is never going to resign

Saturday 28 January 2023 09:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Pedro Vilarva, the former boyfriend of Mr Santos, told CNN that “his ego is too big. He’s not gonna resign. If they don’t find out something to get him (to leave) he’s not gonna do it. That’s for sure, knowing the person that he is”.

“What he always looked for was fame and power,” he said. “That’s all he cared about and he got it.”

Mr Vilarva said he only learned of Mr Santos’s marriage to a woman after he had moved out of his home.

“It was like a little shock for me,” he told CNN. “But then he used to say that he was going to get the divorce, he was getting the divorce – and never got the divorce. And then I went to find out that they only got the divorce in (2019).”

Treasurer named in George Santos’ campaign says he doesn’t work for him

Saturday 28 January 2023 08:15 , John Bowden and Gustaf Kilander

George Santos has yet another headache coming his way, thanks to amended filings submitted to the FEC this week.

The embattled New York congressman was already facing calls for his resignation or ouster — from both parties — before his filings with the Federal Election Commission this week. Now, those filings are becoming the source of problem after problem, each with the potential to run afoul of the law.

The latest issue flagged by reporters with ABC News on Thursday stems from filings that several fundraising committees working on behalf of the Santos 2022 campaign made with the agency specifying a change in the individual assigned as treasurer for the committees. Those committees are now listed as having their financial operations overseen by Thomas Datwyler, a longtime specialist in political campaign finances.

Read more:

Treasurer named in George Santos’ campaign says he doesn’t work for him

Jamie Raskin calls Santos ‘compulsive liar and conman’ as he blasts McCarthy

Saturday 28 January 2023 07:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Maryland Democrat called Mr Santos a “compulsive liar” and a “conman” as he blasted Speaker Kevin McCarthy for blocking several Democrats from a number of committees.

“By refusing to seat Adam Schiff, Eric Swalwell and Ilhan Omar on their committees while seating compulsive liar and conman George Santos and bowing and scraping to compulsive liar and conman Donald Trump, Kevin McCarthy has shown America exactly what he believes in: nothing,” Mr Raskin tweeted on Wednesday afternoon.

Former friend says Santos’s drag queen past is ‘proof he doesn’t care about politics at all'

Saturday 28 January 2023 07:00 , Gustaf Kilander

In a WhatsApp group of former friends of Mr Santos living in Brazil and the US, one participant reacted to the allegations that the New York Congressman has a past as a drag queen.

“The great irony of this is he is part of a party that thinks drag queens are terrible!” they wrote, according to Mother Jones.

“That’s proof that he doesn’t care about politics at all,” another person wrote. “He just wants to be famous.”

Treasurer named in George Santos’ campaign says he doesn’t work for him

Saturday 28 January 2023 06:15 , John Bowden

George Santos has yet another headache coming his way, thanks to amended filings submitted to the FEC this week.

The embattled New York congressman was already facing calls for his resignation or ouster — from both parties — before his filings with the Federal Election Commission this week. Now, those filings are becoming the source of problem after problem, each with the potential to run afoul of the law.

The latest issue flagged by reporters with ABC News on Thursday stems from filings that several fundraising committees working on behalf of the Santos 2022 campaign made with the agency specifying a change in the individual assigned as treasurer for the committees. Those committees are now listed as having their financial operations overseen by Thomas Datwyler, a longtime specialist in political campaign finances.

But there’s just one problem: Mr Datwyler adamantly told ABC News that he is not working for the Santos campaign, and in fact had informed them of that before the FEC filings were submitted: “On Monday, we informed the Santos campaign that Mr. Datwyler would not be serving as treasurer,” said Mr Datwyler’s attorney Derek Ross.

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Treasurer named in George Santos’ campaign says he doesn’t work for him

Former Republican congressman blames lack of Trump accountability for Santos rise

Saturday 28 January 2023 05:45 , Gustaf Kilander

A former Republican congressman has blamed the lack of accountability for former President Donald Trump for the rise of George Santos.

“George Santos is what you get when you don’t hold Donald Trump accountable,” Joe Walsh tweeted on Friday.

‘Anti-semitism is a plague in this nation,’ Santos says on House floor

Saturday 28 January 2023 05:00 , Gustaf Kilander

After suffering heavy criticism for allegedly making a Facebook comment seemingly joking about Hitler and the holocaust more than a decade ago, Mr Santos took to the House floor on Friday.

“Mr Speaker, today I rise to acknowledge that the 27th of January marks the anniversary of the Auschwitz concentration camp being liberated by the Red Army in 1945,” he said. “Let this day serve as a reminder that we must honour the victims and survivors.”

He added: “We must also pay tribute to the liberators who rescued millions of people who nearly fell victim to the Holocaust. In fact, I would like to take a moment to acknowledge the grandmother of one of my DC staffers who is a 93-year-old survivor of Auschwitz, and is also one of the few survivors of her family who was tragically lost at the hands of Nazi murderers.”

“Anti-semitism is a plague in this nation, and it is undoubtedly up to us to ensure this kind of tragedy is never to be seen again,” he said. “This is a tribute to ageing survivors and the Jewish community. We must guarantee access to the services they need to live long and dignified lives. This day, and every day, we greet we give credence to the dark side of humanity but strive to strive for a better brighter future.”

Former roommate says Santos looks like ‘a lost, cornered person’

Saturday 28 January 2023 04:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Adriana Parizzi, 55, flew with Mr Santos to the US from Brazil and once shared an apartment with him in New York City.

She told Mother Jones that she remembers him as being “playful and smiley ... singing and dancing, joking about everything”.

But she also called him a “dreamer” who liked expensive restaurants, designer fashion, pricey whiskey, and as someone who boasted about his connections.

When she sees him in the media walking the halls of Congress, she told the outlet that she thinks “he has the look of a lost, cornered person”.