Nassau County Republican leader says allegations about George Santos’ resume are ‘serious’

Discrepancies on New York Rep.-elect George Santos’ resume are “severe” and the GOP politician “deserves a possibility” to clear his title within the face of accusations, a high Republican in Nassau County mentioned Monday.

“Whereas points which were raised in a December nineteenth New York Occasions article are severe, I consider that George Santos deserves a possibility to handle the claims detailed within the article, which have been repeated by different information sources,” Joseph G. Cairo Jr., the Nassau County Republican Committee chairman, mentioned in an announcement to CNN. “Each particular person deserves a possibility to ‘clear’ his/her title within the face of accusations. I’m dedicated to this precept, and I look ahead to the Congressman-Elect’s responses to the information stories.”

The New York Occasions on Monday, citing public paperwork and courtroom information, first reported that key elements of Santos’ biography have been both contradicted or not supported by proof. A CNN overview of claims Santos has made about his schooling and employment historical past discovered the identical discrepancies.

Santos’ biography has at occasions listed an schooling at Baruch Faculty and New York College, incomes levels in finance and economics. A NYU spokesperson, John Beckman, instructed CNN on Monday, “the College’s information don’t mirror anybody with that title [George Anthony Devolder-Santos] having attended NYU.” A spokesperson for Baruch Faculty additionally on Monday instructed CNN it couldn’t discover a report of anybody together with his title or birthday ever attending the college.

CNN has reached out to Santos for remark, and Joseph Murray, an legal professional for him, instructed CNN in an announcement on Monday that the Occasions was trying to “smear” the congressman-elect with “defamatory allegations.” The Occasions report mentioned Santos didn’t reply to repeated requests to furnish paperwork that might assist to substantiate the claims whereas campaigning.

The discrepancies elevate questions for Santos as he prepares to formally tackle his position as a lawmaker in January as a part of the brand new Republican majority within the Home of Representatives.

Democrats on the native and nationwide degree have criticized Santos.

In an announcement to CNN on Tuesday, incoming Home Democratic Chief Hakeem Jeffries referred to as Santos “a woefully unqualified Excessive MAGA Republican who’s clearly unfit to serve.”

Josh Lafazan, a member of the Nassau County Legislature in New York and a former candidate for New York’s third Congressional District, mentioned Tuesday that Santos ought to resign instantly.

Lafazan mentioned he plans to write down letters to the Home Ethics Committee requesting an investigation and referred to as on the legal professional basic’s workplace to have a look at “potential wrongdoing in the case of marketing campaign finance violations.”

“Congressman-elect George Santos has instructed some incredible lies. Mendacity about the place you reside, mendacity about the place you went to varsity, mendacity about your staff dying in a mass taking pictures, mendacity about the place you labored – these are disqualifications for workplace,” Lafazan mentioned throughout a information convention.

On a biography of Santos on the Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee web site, he claimed he acquired levels from New York College and Baruch Faculty. CNN discovered that Santos laid out in at the very least two separate interviews within the fall of 2020 that he acquired an MBA from NYU, including in a single interview that he had “zero debt” from his undergraduate and graduate research. A overview of his marketing campaign web sites, nonetheless, doesn’t present references to a grasp’s diploma.

Santos’ marketing campaign biography additionally included point out of expertise at monetary corporations Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, however each instructed CNN that they had no report of his employment.

CNN additionally confirmed that Santos listed on his 2022 monetary disclosure a wage of $750,000 this 12 months and final on the Devolder Group, which Santos has claimed is a “household agency” managing $80 million in property.

A seek for the Devolder Group discovered that the enterprise was registered in Florida in 2021 and was most not too long ago quickly deemed “inactive” by the state after failing to file the required annual stories. An internet site or LinkedIn profile couldn’t be discovered, and Santos didn’t report any of the shoppers he served in his monetary disclosure.

Santos additionally claimed he based and ran his personal charity referred to as “Pals of Pets United.” However no such group was discovered within the IRS’ searchable database, nor within the registered charities in New York state and Florida.