Who is George Santos? Know about myriad controversies of the lawmaker ousted from US Congress

George Santos, who was ousted as a lawmaker in a historic vote on Friday (Dec 1),  hit headlines earlier this year after appearing outside the Manhattan courthouse to join the rally in support of former President Donald Trump. He left shortly after he was heckled by anti-Trump protesters and media personnel. He called the unfolding drama “media chaos” after he was forced to clear out within 30 minutes of his arrival.

The man who allegedly lied his way to the US Congress, has hit headlines again, but this time for a different reason.

Who is George Santos?

Santos was expelled from US House of Representatives in a vote that saw more than 100 of his colleagues in the Republican Party voting in favour of ousting him.

Santos is a Trump loyalist, who is supporting the former president amidst allegations that he illegally paid off a porn star to hide his alleged affair before the 2016 elections. Santos recently wrote on Twitter that “the weaponized justice system is going after conservatives with political bias.”

Santos was a Republican representative for New York's 3rd congressional district. He was elected to Congress in 2022. His Congressional election campaign soon fell prey to an investigative report by the New York Times which revealed Santos misrepresented various aspects of his career.

Myriad controversies surrounding George Santos 

Following the big revelation by NY Times, Santos acknowledged "embellishing" his resume, but new information about his background kept coming to light. Santos misrepresented his employment at Goldman Sachs to a Seattle judge in 2017 during a bail hearing for a "family friend," but he has since confessed he never had a direct employment relationship with the investment company.

He was also questioned by the US Secret Service in 2017 as part of an investigation into international credit card fraud. Although, his link to the case is still unknown and he was not named a suspect in the investigation.

Federal and state investigators are looking into his finances, including how his 2022 congressional campaign was funded, how long he worked for a company that allegedly ran a Ponzi scam, and how he allegedly helped a pet charity pretend to raise money for a dying veteran's dog. Santos has refuted any misconduct in all of these cases.

Concerns about Santos' campaign expenditures have also been filed with the Federal Election Commission.

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