NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Republican New York Congressman-elect George Santos said he will address questions next week about his backstory as new accusations surface and the state attorney general's office looks into some of the claims.
On Thursday, New York Attorney General Letitia James launched a probe into the 34-year-old, according to NY1, after a New York Times report Monday raised questions about the truthfulness of aspects of his life story and disclosed he faced an unresolved criminal fraud investigation in Brazil, where his family once lived.
The Times alleged that most of what he pitched to voters before he defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in a district that includes some Long Island suburbs and a small slice of Queens was false, including his professional experience, his charity and even his college credentials.
In a statement on Twitter Thursday, Santos said that he has a "story to tell" and it "will be told next week."
"I want to assure everyone that I will address your questions and that I remain committed to deliver the results I campaigned on; Public safety, Inflation, Education & more," he added.
His promise to discuss the allegations comes as Santos is accused of fabricating the story of his grandparents' escape from anti-Jewish persecution in Europe during World War II.
The Forward, a New York City-based Jewish publication, reported Wednesday that despite Santos' claim that his "grandparents fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII," the genealogy website myheritage.com lists his "maternal grandparents as having been born in Brazil before the Nazis rose to power."
The Facebook page for Santos' mother, Fatima Aziza Caruso Horta Devolder, who died in 2016, has also raised concerns about his claimed Jewish heritage. According to the report, neither the words "Jew" or "Jewish," nor the terms Yom Kippur, Shabbat, or Israel in either English or Portuguese are mentioned on the page. She "liked" four of the seven pages that were also for Catholic groups.
1010 WINS reached out to Santos' attorney about The Forward's reporting, and he said Santos has no comment.
Yet another report Thursday called into question a significant aspect of his campaign—that he'd make history as the first non-incumbent out gay Republican ever elected to Congress.
According to court records obtained by The Daily Beast, Santos divorced a woman named Uadla Santos in 2019, just two weeks before he began his campaign for Congress against Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi.
While the outlet's report Thursday mentions that in his campaign biography, he has a husband with whom he lives with and their four dogs, he has allegedly kept this previous marriage completely out of the public spotlight.
"I'm a gay married man," Santos said in an October interview with USA Today. "I am openly gay, have never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade, and I can tell you and assure you, I will always be an advocate for LGBTQ folks."
In a statement posted to social media after the Times report, Zimmerman called for investigations by the House Ethics Committee, the Federal Elections Commission and federal prosecutors.
"Santos’ failure to answer any of the questions about these allegations demonstrates why he is unfit for public office and should resign," Zimmerman said.
Joseph Cairo Jr., chairman of the Nassau County Republican Committee, called the issues "serious" but said Santos deserved a chance to address them.
"Every person deserves an opportunity to ‘clear' his/her name in the face of accusations," Cairo said in a statement. "I am committed to this principle, and I look forward to the Congressman-Elect's responses to the news reports."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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