2023-05-10 18:10:02
George Santos’ list of lies is dizzyingly long. The young US Republican MP made so many false statements regarding his education, his career, his wealth, his family and his religion that at some point hardly anyone knew what was real and what was fictitious regarding his biography. There is no doubt regarding the latest development: the 34-year-old scandalous member of parliament has been charged and arrested by the US judiciary.
13-count indictment
The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York accuses the conservative politician, who was first elected to the US House of Representatives in November, of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false information to the House of Representatives on a total of 13 counts. Among other things, he is said to have misused campaign donations for private purposes and illegally received unemployment benefits.
If convicted, the young politician faces up to 20 years in prison. It might spell the end of Santos’ political career – although such forecasts are extremely difficult. Santos does not have to resign because of the charges.
Hair-raising inventions
The son of Brazilian immigrants won a constituency on New York’s Long Island in November’s midterms, known as the midterms. In doing so, he helped his party wrest a majority in the House of Representatives from the Democrats. But even before he took office in Washington in January, revelations regarding misrepresentations on his resume were mounting.
The list of hair-raising inventions is long: Santos claims a degree from the venerable Baruch College and a successful volleyball career at the university; he falsely stated that he worked for investment bank Goldman Sachs and banking group Citigroup and owned a number of properties; he claimed his mother survived the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and identified himself as Jewish.
“resume embellished”
Santos has had to admit to a multitude of lies, but said euphemistically that he had merely “embellished” his CV. But the revelations didn’t stop: A US veteran accused him of having stolen thousands of dollars that had been collected during an online fundraiser for an operation on his dog.
Santos became the laughing stock of the political scene in Washington, and numerous impersonators made fun of the MP on late-night shows. Old photos of Santos in Brazil in drag clothes were also a hit. The politician, who had meanwhile lived in the South American country, initially denied ever having acted as a drag queen. But then he said: “I was young and I had fun at a festival.”
Ridicule, malice, outrage
But there was not only ridicule and malice, but also growing indignation that a politician does not have to resign despite so many lies. Especially since, in addition to the bizarre revelations, very serious questions regarding Santos’ financial behavior were raised during the election campaign, among other things.
The leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, held on to the scandalous MP. The reason for this is obvious: the Conservatives only have a very slim majority in the Congress Chamber, McCarthy needs every vote.
Manageable consequences
And so the consequences for Santos remained extremely manageable: At the end of January, the deputy rested his work in the two congressional committees to which he had been appointed. In early March, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into Santos.
But none of that seemed to bother Santos much. The Republican only announced in mid-April that he would run for re-election in 2024. Santos also seems to be increasingly enjoying the limelight he’s in: In early April, he took part in public protests in New York once morest the reading out of the indictment once morest ex-President Donald Trump in the hush money scandal involving porn actress Stormy Daniels.
Now charges have been brought once morest Santos himself. Several Republicans then called on the deputy to resign. But not McCarthy. He stated that he wanted to wait for the trial once morest Santos first. “Let’s see what the exit is.”
1683745836
#George #Santos #charges #young #baron #lies
