It’s not a secret that Republican Rep. George Santos has told a staggering number of lies about matters large and small, professional and personal, scandalous and trivial. But in nearly every instance, the New York congressman lied to voters and journalists.
Lying to a judge in a courtroom during legal proceedings, however, seems like a qualitatively different kind of dishonesty. Politico reported this afternoon:
George Santos lied to a Seattle judge about working for Goldman Sachs while speaking at a 2017 bail hearing for a “family friend” who later pleaded guilty to fraud in an ATM skimming scheme, according to an audio recording of the proceeding and court records.
Late last year, when a New York Times report first brought Santos’ deceptions to a national audience, the newspaper noted that the Republican’s campaign biography boasted about his work at, among other places, Goldman Sachs. This came as a surprise to Goldman Sachs, which had no record of Santos ever having worked at the company.
But according to Politico’s report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, Santos also appeared before King County Superior Court Judge Sean O’Donnell in 2017, where the future congressman addressed the court during an arraignment for a friend.
“So what do you do for work?” the judge asked. “I am an aspiring politician and I work for Goldman Sachs,” Santos replied.
“You work for Goldman Sachs in New York?” the judge asked. “Yup,” Santos responded.
We now know, of course, what the judge in the case did not: Santos was lying.
His lawyer has not responded to requests for comment.
To be sure, the GOP congressman is already facing local, state, federal, and international investigations, and it seems unlikely that he’ll face any serious repercussions for having lied in court during someone else’s arraignment. But as Santos’ career on Capitol Hill moves forward, it’s worth remembering that he hasn’t just lied to voters and reporters, he apparently lied to a judge during official proceedings, too. During an on-air interview this week, the congressman conceded, “I’ve been a terrible liar,” though it wasn’t altogether clear to me whether he was fessing up to deceiving people or complaining that he wasn’t particular good at being a fraud. In the same interview, Santos added, in apparent reference to his brazen deceptions, “I ran in 2020 for the same exact seat for Congress and I got away with it then.” It would appear his days of getting away with such lies are over.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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