Long Island GOP leader says he has proof Rep. George Santos admitted to crimes in Brazil
NEW YORK -- A Long Island Republican party leader says he has proof Rep. George Santos, who lied about much of his resume and life story, admitted to crimes in Brazil.
Meantime, the Santos campaign office in Douglaston, Queens appeared to be closed again Monday as new videos of the embattled congressman emerged.
One video involved Baruch College, a school Santos never attended.
"I actually went to school on a volleyball scholarship. We went to play against Harvard, Yale, and we slayed them. Look, I sacrificed both my knees and got very nice knee replacements from HSS playing volleyball. That's how serious I took the game," Santos said.
"I feel betrayed," one voter said.
"One hundred percent lies," said another.
Robert Zimmerman, the Democrat who lost the election to Santos, said he did not have the time or money to chase his opponent after a brutal five way primary.
"Our campaign, as we were just starting for the general election, without funds, without resources, was not in the position to send a team to Brazil to check out his background. We weren't in a position to hire a genealogist to check out his Jewish ancestry," said Zimmerman.
Santos urged members of the LGBTQ community to embrace Donald Trump at a 2019 event held by the conservative Walk Away Foundation.
"My name is Anthony Devolder," he said. "You can help educate other trans people from not having to follow the narrative that the media and the Democrats put forward."
Grant Lally, the Republican lawyer who runs the GOP-leaning "The North Shore Leader" refused to endorse Santos from the start.
"I met with him in 2020 when he first ran. And right away we thought he was very strange and, frankly not a serious candidate," said Lally, who added Santos did nothing but brag about his mansions and fancy cars.
Lally showed CBS2's Jennifer McLogan documents from police in Brazil. Santos admitted to stealing and forging checks to purchase expensive clothing and shoes in 2008.
Santos attracted the attention of federal, state and local investigators after disclosing he earned $55,000 in 2021, but loaned his campaign $705,000 in 2022.
"Where did that money go? Or was it not real?" said Lally.
"Someone bought George Santos. The question is who bought him. It's up to Kevin McCarthy and the Republican leadership in Congress to find out immediately," said Zimmerman.
Our repeated calls to McCarthy's and Santos' offices were not returned.
Accountable.us, a government accountability group, claimed Santos misused campaign funds for personal expenses and has asked the FEC to investigated.
The group also claimed Santos accepted excessive contributions and filed disclosure forms late.
The chair of the House Oversight Committee said Santos would be removed from Congress if he broke campaign finance laws.
