A fellow first-term Republican elected to Congress from New York in November is calling for a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee of Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.), after Santos admitted to lying about his background on the campaign trail.
The remarks in a statement issued by Rep.-elect Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.), whose district borders the one that elected Santos, is the latest sign of how the questions about Santos’s background are fueling a storm within the GOP and creating discomfort for fellow Republicans.
“House Republicans like me are eager to be sworn in and focus on our Commitment to America and our respective districts,” LaLota said in the statement. “Yet, over the last few weeks I have heard from countless Long Islanders how deeply troubled they are by the headlines surrounding George Santos.”
“As a Navy man who campaigned on restoring accountability and integrity to our government, I believe a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee and, if necessary, law enforcement, is required,” LaLota added. “New Yorkers deserve the truth and House Republicans deserve an opportunity to govern without this distraction.”
Santos has been under fire ever since a report in The New York Times raised discrepancies in his resume.
On Monday, in several interviews, Santos acknowledged he had not been truthful about his educational and professional background.
Despite previous claims that he attended Baruch College in New York and worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, Santos said in an interview with the New York Post on Monday that he did not attend “any institution of higher learning” and “never worked directly” with either firm.
The incoming congressman’s claims about his Jewish heritage have also come under fire. Santos, who has since clarified that he identifies as Catholic, had claimed during the campaign that his maternal grandparents were Jewish and fled persecution during World War II.
The Republican Jewish Coalition on Tuesday said Santos “deceived” the organization and “misrepresented” his Jewish heritage, adding the incoming lawmaker is no longer welcome at its events.
Matt Brooks, the group’s CEO, said he was “disappointed” in Santos after the congressman-elect admitted to embellishing key facts about his life in two separate interviews on Monday.
Rep.-elect Anthony D’Esposito, another incoming GOP congressman from Long Island, took a more cautious approach toward Santos on Tuesday, noting that “neighbors across Long Island are deeply hurt and rightly offended” by Santos’s misrepresentations and urging him to “pursue a path of honesty.”
“While Santos has taken a required first step by ‘coming clean’ with respect to his education, work experience and other issues, he must continue to pursue a path of honesty,” D’Esposito said in a statement. “I have long held that elected officials must operate in a transparent and truthful manner – it is time for Mr. Santos to embrace that same spirit of sincerity.”