George Santos, the newly elected, scandal-plagued Republican from New York, was sworn in early Saturday morning to the House of Representatives under a cloud of suspicion involving everything from his credentials to campaign expenditures.
Santos was busted by the New York Times last month for embellishing his background and lying about his family, religion, education, work experience, sexuality, and perhaps even an animal rescue charity he allegedly founded.
BELEAGUERED GEORGE SANTOS FACES PROSPECT OF FRAUD INVESTIGATION IN BRAZIL
The 34-year-old, who campaigned on saving the “American dream,” is now at the center of multiple investigations, including one looking into discrepancies on his financial disclosure forms.
“Politicians don’t tell the truth, sure,” Katie Sanders, the managing editor of PolitiFact, a nonpartisan fact-checking service, said. “But to be this brazen is unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory.”
Santos was supposed to be sworn in on Tuesday alongside other lawmakers, but the ceremony was put on pause as Republicans feuded over who would hold the House speaker’s gavel. The epic in-fighting not only exposed fissures within the party but also held hostage the important work lawmakers were elected to do.
For most of the week, Santos was seen sitting alone in the House, at times playing on his cellphone while members of his party iced him out. On Tuesday, images and a video of him began circulating online. By Friday, the video had racked up 1.5 million views.
Reporters tried asking the lonely lawmaker about the controversies swirling around him, but he apparently dodged questions and only said that he would be voting for Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) for speaker of the House.
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While it’s unclear what lies ahead for Santos, Sanders called it “a huge moment for truth and lies in politics.”
