George Santos was elected to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District in November 2022. Within weeks of taking office, investigations by the New York Times, CNN, and other outlets revealed that virtually every element of his public biography was fabricated.
The Lies
Santos claimed he graduated from Baruch College. He did not attend Baruch College. He claimed he worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Neither company had any record of his employment. He claimed his mother died in the September 11 attacks. She was in Brazil on 9/11. He claimed he was Jewish and that his grandparents fled the Holocaust. He was not Jewish and there was no evidence his family had any connection to the Holocaust. He claimed he ran an animal charity that saved over 2,500 dogs and cats. The charity did not appear to exist. He claimed he was a star volleyball player at Baruch. He did not attend Baruch.
Every line of his biography was invented. Not embellished — invented.
The Charges
In May 2023, federal prosecutors charged Santos with 13 counts including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and false statements. A superseding indictment in October 2023 added 10 more counts, bringing the total to 23 felonies, including aggravated identity theft — he had allegedly stolen the identities of campaign donors and used their credit card information without authorization.
The Expulsion
On December 1, 2023, the House voted 311–114 to expel Santos. He was the sixth member expelled in the history of Congress, and only the third since the Civil War. 105 Republicans voted to expel him. Santos made defiant comments on his way out, calling the process a “political death sentence” and vowing to fight.
In August 2024, Santos pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. In April 2025, he was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison.
Bottom Line
A man fabricated his entire life story, ran for Congress, won, served for a year, was charged with 23 felonies, and still had to be voted out because he wouldn’t leave. The system caught the fraud — eventually. The voters were deceived. The party that put him on the ballot didn’t vet him. The media that exposed him did so after the election. And the House that expelled him took a year to do it, surviving two failed expulsion votes before the third succeeded. The system worked. It just worked slowly, and the damage was done.
Sources
- DOJ: Santos sentenced to 87 months, wire fraud and identity theft.
- Associated Press: Santos expulsion vote, December 1, 2023.
- New York Times: Original investigation into Santos fabrications.