Rep. George Santos, whose lies triggered investigations, to seek reelection

Rep. George Santos (N.Y.), the freshman Republican whose lies about his biography have triggered multiple federal, local and House investigations, announced on Monday that will run for reelection.

Santos made the announcement in a statement posted on social media. “As a first-generation American, I am no stranger to the issues affecting my district,” Santos said in a statement. “I’ve been in office for 100 days and through legislation and my votes I’ve already made significant efforts to honor” numerous campaign promises.

Santos is facing a House Ethics panel investigation and has stepped down from his House committee assignments. He has fabricated details about his education, work, athletic achievements, ancestry and his mother’s presence at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

The announcement comes weeks after he filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission allowing him to raise money for a reelection campaign and, if needed, legal fees connected to the investigations he is facing.

Fellow Republicans in New York have called on Santos to resign and he’s drawn at least one Republican primary challenger, Kellen Curry, a military veteran turned business executive who promised “to restore honesty and integrity” to the district.

Democrats pounced on Santos’s announcement. “George Santos’ decision to run for reelection underscores what little control the Republican Party has in one of their most vulnerable regions, after Santos has been discovered blatantly lying to voters about his life and record,” Nebeyatt Betre, a spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said in a statement Monday.

Nassau County legislator Josh Lafazan, a Democrat, also announced his candidacy for the seat last month and has traded barbs with Santos on social media. Tom Suozzi, the Democrat who vacated the seat during a failed bid for governor, has not ruled out another congressional run.

When reached on his cellphone Monday, Santos hung up after the caller identified himself as a Washington Post reporter.

The filing comes as the House Ethics Committee and several state and federal investigations are looking into the freshman lawmaker, who has been dogged by allegations of theft and financial wrongdoing in addition to fabricating much of his supposed education and professional background.

In the clearest sign to date that federal prosecutors are examining Santos’s campaign finances, the Justice Department asked the FEC to hold off on any enforcement action against Santos as prosecutors conduct a parallel criminal probe, according to two people familiar with the request, The Post reported in late January.

The Justice Department request also asked that the FEC provide any relevant documents, according to the knowledgeable people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

Santos has resisted bipartisan calls for him to resign, as has House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who said Santos as legally elected and seated without objection. House Republicans assigned Santos to two House committees in January but Santos later stepped down from those committees, saying he was a “distraction.”

Earlier this month, the House Ethics Committee’s board voted unanimously to establish an investigative subcommittee to look into a litany of claims about the freshman congressman, including about his past business practices, campaign finance expenditures and an allegation of sexual misconduct.

The bipartisan subcommittee will determine whether Santos, 34, may have “engaged in unlawful activity with respect to his 2022 congressional campaign; failed to properly disclose required information on statements filed with the House; violated federal conflict of interest laws in connection with his role in a firm providing fiduciary services; and/or engaged in sexual misconduct towards an individual seeking employment in his congressional office,” a statement from the panel’s leaders said.

Santos’s 2022 victory was marred by questions about how he funded his effort. Campaign finance records indicated he gave his 2022 campaign $700,000, well above what he appeared to be able to afford based on financial records he filed when he ran for the seat just two years earlier.

Santos won the open seat in the New York City area in November, helping Republicans retake the House majority. The New York Times reported in December that Santos lied about companies where he claimed to have worked and schools he said he attended, and revealed an unresolved criminal case in Brazil.

Other news outlets, including The Post, revealed falsehoods and unverified statements in his background, from claiming to be the descendant of Holocaust survivors, to saying his mother was in the South Tower of the World Trade Center when it was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.

Santos claimed in an interview last month that he wanted “to be the most transparent member of Congress,” and he asserted that his lying “stopped a long time ago.”

“Well, I’ve been a terrible liar … and what I tried to convey to the American people is, I made mistakes,” Santos said.