George Santos Lied About Everything. Republicans Kept Him for a Year.

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The Santos story is extraordinary not because a politician lied — politicians lie all the time — but because of the sheer scope, the audacity, and the fact that it took this long to matter. Santos did not shade the truth or exaggerate his accomplishments. He invented an entire life. He fabricated credentials, employment history, family background, religious identity, and charitable work. When the New York Times began dismantling his biography in late December 2022 — before he had even been sworn in — the Republican Party did almost nothing.

The Fabrications, Documented.

Education: Santos claimed to have graduated from Baruch College in New York with a degree in economics and finance. Baruch has no record of his attendance. He claimed to have an MBA from New York University. NYU has no record of his attendance.

Employment: Santos claimed to have worked at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Neither firm has any record of his employment. He later said he "worked for" these firms in a different sense — a claim that made no sense and convinced no one.

Family and heritage: Santos repeatedly claimed to be "Jew-ish" and said his maternal grandparents had fled Ukraine to Brazil to escape the Holocaust. Genealogical research by reporters and later by investigators found no evidence of Jewish ancestry and found that his grandparents were born in Brazil — not Ukraine — before the Holocaust. His mother, whom he claimed was in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and suffered health effects that later killed her, was in Brazil on that date, according to records.

The charity: Santos claimed to have founded and operated an animal rescue charity called Friends of Pets United. There is no record the organization ever existed as a legal entity. Several people alleged he solicited donations for sick pets and kept the money.

The volleyball team: Santos claimed to have played volleyball at Baruch. He did not attend Baruch. There is no volleyball team record of him anywhere.

The Federal Charges.

In May 2023, Santos was indicted on 13 federal counts including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to the House of Representatives. A superseding indictment in October 2023 expanded the charges to 23 counts. The charges included allegations that he defrauded donors, stole from campaign funds to pay personal expenses including designer clothes and OnlyFans subscriptions, and collected unemployment benefits while telling the government he was employed.

Santos pleaded not guilty to all charges. He was eventually expelled from the House in December 2023 — only the sixth member expelled in US history, and the first since the Civil War era to be expelled without having been convicted of a crime first. The vote to expel was 311-114. 105 Republicans voted to keep him.

Why Republicans Protected Him.

For nearly a year after his fabrications were fully exposed, House Republican leadership declined to expel Santos. The primary reason was arithmetic: Kevin McCarthy needed every Republican vote to maintain his razor-thin House majority, and Santos reliably provided one. When asked directly about Santos's lies, McCarthy deflected. When expulsion resolutions were brought to the floor, Republican leaders used procedural maneuvers to table them. The House Ethics Committee investigation dragged on for months. Santos sat on committees, cast votes, and drew a congressional salary while under federal indictment — because he was useful to the people with the power to remove him.

Santos pleaded guilty in August 2024 to wire fraud and identity theft charges, admitting to stealing from his own campaign donors and defrauding supporters. He was sentenced in April 2025 to 87 months — more than seven years — in federal prison. He continues to deny some of the underlying fabrications while having pleaded guilty to the crimes that flowed from them.