George Santos, who with the pace of his past lies might as well have claimed he personally toppled the Berlin wall and was responsible for the first manned mission to the moon, was in D.C. this week as the new Republican majority in the House tried to start its work. The infamous figure didn’t look like he was having a great time.
He’s the newly elected Republican Congressman for the 3rd Congressional District in New York, which includes portions of Long Island and New York City. Santos also lied about where he went to school and worked, in addition to potentially massive lies about basic facts of his family background. He’s also facing questions about his campaign finances, like the tens of thousands of dollars in flights he claimed as campaign expenses, despite running in a district easily accessible — in its entirety — by car. (It’s one district!) On Tuesday, Santos ended up — presumably accidentally — in a dead-end in the basement of a House office building, seemingly trying to avoid reporters who he and someone with him did not look thrilled to see.
Santos “walked into a dead end in the basement of the Longworth House Office Bldg while speeding ahead of the press corps. Then had to turn around,” Scott MacFarlane, who is a CBS journalist, reported. Footage from Tuesday shows Santos avoiding a series of questions covering topics including whether he’d been in touch with Republican leadership and if he’d finish the two-year term he’s supposed to be starting this week. He did answer that he would support Kevin McCarthy, the House GOP leader, in his push to become House Speaker — and that he did in votes held Tuesday, although McCarthy was unable to secure the overall level of support needed to actually nab the role. Footage also circulated of Santos sitting alone in the House chamber, despite many House members — returning and new — palling around with friends or family members.
By his actual office, he at one point showed up — and then left as reporters lingered near the entrance. He eventually went inside, but not before walking right past it and needing to turn around. Elsewhere, Santos is facing investigations in the U.S. at the local, state, and federal levels, from the Nassau County District Attorney, the Attorney General of New York, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Among the reported areas of interest is his finances. He was somehow able to loan hundreds of thousands of dollars to his campaign that he tied to a high-end investment services company he ostensibly leads. Four identified clients of Santos’s company were all tied to individuals who also donated to Santos’s campaign. Were they pouring money into the company to try and get around federal limits on campaign donations? The questions about substantiation for his wealth make you wonder!
Rep-elect George Santos (R-NY) walked into a dead end in the basement of the Longworth House Office Bldg while speeding ahead of the press corps. Then had to turn around pic.twitter.com/TC61V33LvX
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) January 3, 2023
