Authorities in Brazil are seeking to reinstate a 15-year-old fraud charge against George Santos, the latest controversy to hit the New York Republican, who was due to be sworn in to Congress on Tuesday.
The Rio state prosecutor’s office told The Washington Post that authorities were alerted to Santos’s whereabouts by news of his election. They planned to file a request for a summons of Santos on Friday, when the court reopens after a holiday break.Santos, now 34, was in Washington on Tuesday for the opening of the 118th Congress. A person who answered his phone Tuesday morning said “I’m really busy right now” and “this is not the best time” and ended the call.
An attorney for Santos said he could not confirm the Brazilian action. “I am in the process of engaging local counsel to address this alleged complaint against my client,” attorney Joe Murray said.Santos spent $700 at a small clothing store in the city of Niterói in 2008 using a stolen checkbook and a false name, court records show. Santos acknowledged the incident in a post on the social media platform Orkut, prosecutors allege, writing “I know I screwed up, but I want to pay.
Santos campaigned as a gay Republican of Brazilian descent and Jewish ancestry who represented the quintessential “American Dream” for the open seat in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, comprising parts of Long Island and Queens. He defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in November to flip the seat to the GOP.
He has since admitted to making false or misleading statements about his heritage, education and work experience — he called it “résumé embellishment” — but said he’s not a criminal in the United States or Brazil. Democrats have demanded hisNassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, a Republican, called the fabrications and inconsistencies “nothing short of stunning.”
“The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress,” she said. “If a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”
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