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Republican leaders called on Congressman George Santos to resign on Wednesday. Santos has been under fire since a series of fabrications and lies that he told were revealed. Photo by Pat Benic/UPI |
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Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Nassau County Republican leaders called on U.S. Rep. George Santos to resign on Wednesday in the wake of revelations about fabrications and lies he told during his campaign and afterward.
"George Santos' campaign last year was a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication -- he deceived the voters of the third congressional district, he deceived the members of the Nassau County Republican Committee, elected officials, his colleagues, candidates, his opponents and even some of the media," Nassau County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Cairo said at a press conference Wednesday.
Santos claimed to have had attended NYU and graduated from Baruch college in 2010, both institutions said they couldn't find any record of his attendance. In his campaign bio, Santos claimed to have worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but both companies say they don't have any record of his employment.
Shortly after his election to New York's third congressional district, Santos claimed he had lost four employees at the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016, but a New York Times review of victims' backgrounds revealed that none of them had worked for Santos.
Santos also lied extensively about his family background, claiming his mother's death from cancer was related to the 9/11 attacks, however, there is no evidence that she was at the Twin Towers or that she had the type of cancer that has affected rescue workers at ground zero. Santos also claimed he was Jewish and that his grandmother fled the Holocaust, but the claim also turned out to have been false.
"His fabrications went too far. Many groups were hurt, specifically, I look at those families that were touched by the horrors of the Holocaust, and feel for them. He has no place in the Nassau County Republican Committee, nor should he serve in public service nor as an elected official. He is not welcome here at republican headquarters," Cairo continued.
The nonprofit government watchdog Campaign Legal Center also filed a complaint against Santos, alleging that he had concealed the source of $705,000 he claimed to have donated to his own campaign despite only having $55,000 in his 2020 financial discloser.
"There's absolutely no way Mr. Santos can be an effective member of congress and represent the people who elected him," said North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jennifer DeSena. "The longer he is in office the longer the residents of the third congressional district will suffer. Mr. Santos haven't you done enough harm?"
Democratic New York representatives Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres on Tuesday delivered a written complaint against Santos to the House Ethics Committee, saying he "must be held accountable for defrauding both Congress and the public."
