Democrats have branded newly-elected Republican lawmaker George Santos a “complete and utter fraud” who is unfit for office amid allegations he faked aspects of his background.
Mr Santos won Long Island’s Nassau County seat in Congress in November’s midterm elections but his life history has come under intense scrutiny ever since.
The openly gay Republican told campaign events that he had graduated from Baruch College, worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs and managed a family-0based real estate company.
But The New York Times reported that it found no evidence to back those claims up and Mr Santos has not responded to the allegations.
“Right now, George Santos appears to be in the witness protection program. No one can find him,” said the incoming leader of House Democrats Rep Hakeem Jeffries, who represents parts of Brooklyn.
“He’s hiding from legitimate questions that his constituents are asking about his education, about his so-called charity, about his work experience, about his criminal entanglements in Brazil, about every aspect, it appears, of his life.”
And he added: “He appears to be a complete and utter fraud — his whole life story made up. And he’s going to have to answer that question: Did you perpetrate a fraud on the voters of the 3rd Congressional District in New York?”
A lawyer for Mr Santos said that his client is being attacked by people “threatened” by his politics, while not answering specific questions about him.
“It is no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies at the New York Times who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations,” Joseph Murray said in a statement.
A top Republican in Nassau County said earlier this week that Mr Santos “deserved an opportunity” to clear his name.
“While issues that have been raised in a December 19th New York Times article are serious, I believe that George Santos deserves an opportunity to address the claims detailed in the article, which have been repeated by other news sources,” Joseph G Cairo Jr, the Nassau County Republican Committee chairman, said in a statement to CNN.
“Every person deserves an opportunity to ‘clear’ his/her name in the face of accusations. I am committed to this principle, and I look forward to the Congressman-Elect’s responses to the news reports.”
