Kevin McCarthy says George Santos has a right to stay in Congress
By Katelyn Caralle
Santos says he is of Ukrainian Jewish descent
In one interview, Santos said his family name on his mother's side was the historically Jewish name 'Zabrovsky.'
'My grandfather was born in Kyiv and left in the late 20s and migrated to Belgium where he met my grandmother and then started a family,' Santos told Fox Digital in February. 'We don't carry the Ukrainian last name, for a lot of people who are descendants of World War II refuges or survivors of the Holocaust, a lot of names or paperwork were changed in the name of survival.'
George Santos was revealed to be a pathological liar after he won the 2022 midterm elections to represent New York's 3rd congressional district. His lies and fabricated stories span almost every topic from his education background to his family's heritage
Reports indicate that there have been no successful efforts to find any Jewish or Ukrainian heritage in his family tree according to the Forward.
Santos said in a separate interview in 2020 that he was raised by 'a white Caucasian mother, an immigrant from Belgium. But Santos' mother, Fatima Devolder, was born in Brazil, according to her obituary in 2016.
Additionally, newly resurfaced tweets show that Santos, who is Brazilian-American, claimed in July 2020 on Twitter that he was biracial, meaning 'Caucasian and black.'
Santos' claims his mother died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks
Santos wrote in a July 2021 tweet that he was 'blocking' an account with the handle '9/11 was a victimless crime' because his mother was a victim of the terrorist attack.
He wrote, '9/11 claimed my mother's life… so I'm blocking so I don't ever have to read this again,' after the user responded to a tweet from Santos regarding immigration.
An obituary for Santos' mother, however, states that she died in December 2016, which is more than 15 years after the attack took place.
He also confirmed the real date in a December 2021 tweet where he said: 'December 23rd this year marks 5 years I lost my best friend and mentor. Mom you will live forever in my heart.'
Santos' campaign website said his mother 'survived the tragic events of September 11th' in the South Tower office of the World Trade Center and died 'a few years later when she lost her battle to cancer.'
A New York Times report had described Santos' mother as a 'domestic worker' or 'housekeeper.'
His campaign website described his mother as a top executive.
'George's work ethic comes from his mother, who came from nothing, but worked her way up to be the first female executive at a major financial institution,' the website states.
The congressman-elect said in a 2021 tweet that, '9/11 claimed my mother's life,' however Fatima Devolder died in 2016 of cancer and it's unclear if it was 9/11-related. It's also unclear if she was an executive or a housekeeper
Santos said he attended a prestigious New York prep school
The Representative-elect said that he attended Horace Mann School – an elite private school in the Brox where tuition costs $59,800 per year.
'He began Horace Mann preparatory school in the Bronx, however, did not graduate from Horace Mann due to financial difficulties for his family,' read a 2019 biography during his first campaign for Congress, which Santos lost.
'He obtained a GED during his senior year,' it added.
The school said, according to CNN, that he never attended.
'We've searched the records and there is no evidence that George Santos (or any alias) attended Horace Mann,' spokesperson for Horace Mann Prep School Ed Adler said.
CNN reported late Wednesday that the New York Republican never attended Horace Mann School (pictured), an elite private school in the Bronx
Former call center worker Santos' resume includes time at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup
Santos said that he worked on Wall Street for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup but now says he used a 'poor choice of words' when describing his relationship with the two firms.
The incoming congressman worked at a DISH Satellite call center from October 2011 to July 2012.
He also worked for LinkBridge, where, in an attempt to justify his lie, Santos said that he did business with Goldman and Citi and made 'capital introductions' between clients and investors.
Santos said he 'never worked directly' for either firm.
George Santos (right) poses with his then fiancé at Mar-a-Lago on New Year's Eve
Santos' claim his family-owned real estate portfolio of 10+ properties
Santos posted on Twitter in February 2021 that 'my family and I' had not received any rent on 13 properties allegedly owned by him.
A review property taxes owed or paid for in New York state shows no evidence of ownership.
He claimed to have a brain tumor
On March 30, 2020, at the start of the U.S. coronavirus pandemic, an interview with Santos was published on YouTube titled 'George Santos: A Corona Story.' The video has since been set to private
In the video, according to Newsweek, Santos tells two men, one wearing a 'Guns and Freedom' hat and the other seated by a 'Don't Tread on Me' flag, that he had 'battled a brain tumor.'
Discussing his health Santos said: 'I have an immunodeficiency and I also have acute chronic bronchitis. I also battled a brain tumor a couple of years ago and I had radiation done which really lowers your immunity in general.'
Claimed that he lost four employees in Pulse nightclub massacre
During an interview with WNYC, Santos alleged that four 'people that work for me' were killed during the June 2016 mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which left 49 dead.
No connection has yet to be establish between any of the victims and Santos.
Said he was the founder of a charitable foundation
Santos said he founded a tax-exempt animal rights group, Friends of Pets United, which rescued more than 2,500 cats and dogs.
But no records relating to the group's charitable status could be found by the IRS, nor could either the New York or New Jersey attorney general's offices uncover documentation confirming Friends of Pets United had been registered as a charity.
Public records, however, show that Santos was previously married to a woman named Uadla Vieira, a native of Brazil, until 2019
In 2016, he claimed $2,250 was stolen in a mugging on his way to pay rent – but cops have no record of the incident
Santos claimed that in 2016 he was mugged on his way to pay his apartment rent in Queens.
In a sworn statement battling eviction, he said $2,250 was stolen. According to Gothamist, he wrote: 'I have been mugged at approx 1:15 p.m. on 01/15/16 on Queens Boro Plaza, as I was on my way to pay the lawyer.
'I have gone to the checks cash location located on 31st and 23rd Ave in Astoria to request a stop payment.
'I am unable to provide a police report today as I was requested to go back Tuesday to pick it up.'
The NYPD, however, have no record of the incident, the outlet reported.
Santos eventually moved out of the apartment as a result of the case and paid the rest of what he owed in rent.