Reporters Grace Ashford and Michael Gold published a masterful work this week (12/19/22) in The New York Times, outlining suspect biographical claims from George Santos, 34, a newly elected Republican from New York.
Remember, Republicans don’t have seats to spare. With 435 seats in the House, Kevin McCarthy (or whoever becomes speaker) needs 218 votes.
Following the November 2022 election, Republicans hold 222 seats and Democrats hold 213.
People are yelling that the reporters should have done the story before the election, but a wag explained: “Nobody thought he would win.”
And now Republicans will have to hold their collective noses and defend this guy. Here’s a quick look at what the reporters found. Santos’ website is here.
- Santos said he worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, but neither firm had records of his employment.
- He claims a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from Baruch College, but the college has no record of his attendance.
- He claims his animal rescue group, Friends of Pets United, was tax-exempt, but the IRS could locate no record of a registered charity with that name.
- And while Santos has described a family fortune in real estate, he has not disclosed, nor could The Times find, records of his properties.
- Records show two evictions of Santos, one resulting in a $2,000 judgment and the other a $12,208 fine in a civil judgment.
- But he claimed he and his family had not been paid rent at their 13 properties for over a year during the pandemic. The reporters found no mention of real estate on his campaign financial disclosures, and property records in New York City and Nassau County did not show any documents or deeds associated with him, his immediate family or his corporation.
The Times attempted to interview Santos at the address where he is registered to vote and that was associated with a campaign donation he made in October, but a person at that address said on Sunday that she was not familiar with him.
The reporters attempted to reach Santos who did not respond to their requests for information. However, his lawyer, Joe Murray, said it was “no surprise” that Santos has enemies at The New York Times who “are attempting to smear his good name.”
Well, this should be fun.
Random thoughts
Betty Bean was online today, complaining about sniveling at the Knox County Commission meeting. But if I had to sit through the public forum torture imposed on commissioners Monday, I’d be sniveling, too.
Kevin Hill, for instance, waved a skeleton to show commissioners what a spine looks like. “Grow one,” he said.
Many of the individuals last seen trying to give parents the freedom to send their kids to school without a mask, were back on Monday, asking the commissioners to prevent parents from taking kids to a drag show scheduled for Thursday at the Tennessee Theatre.
Sandra Clark is editor/CEO of Knox TN Today Inc.