If it were the plot to a novel, it’d be dismissed as excessively unrealistic, but Rep.-elect George Santos appears to have made up a personal biography that really is almost entirely fictional. The New York Times broke this story in brutal fashion this week, noting that the incoming Republican congressman appears to have lied about his educational background, his private-sector experience, and even his non-profit experience.
The New Yorker eventually issued a statement responding to the allegations, which didn’t actually deny the apparent fact that he effectively made up much of his biography.
As the political world started considering the implications of the suspected fraud, one of the lingering questions dealt less with dishonesty and more with finance: Santos appears to have become very wealthy very quickly, and it’s not at all clear how.
But over the last 24 hours, new allegations of biographical lies have come to the fore. The Forward reported yesterday:
Congressman-elect George Santos’ emotional narrative of having Jewish grandparents who fled Europe during World War II appears to be untrue, like much of the rest of his campaign biography, according to genealogy websites reviewed by the Forward.
The Republican’s campaign website specifically told voters, “George’s grandparents fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII.” The Forward’s research suggests this, like so many of Santos’ other claims, isn’t true.








