|
- Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) not making anyone feel more comfortable with George Santos being seated on House committees
|
|
|
We haven’t dedicated much space to freshman Rep. George Santos (R-NY) and his merry-go-round of lies, because there were often bigger fish to fry and also, frankly, because the lies are so numerous they’re getting kind of hard to keep track of. That changes now!
-
So what are some of his marquee whoppers? For starters, he claimed to hold degrees from NYU and Baruch College, where he claims to have been a volleyball star. Not only did he not graduate from either institution, there’s no record of him ever having attended, let alone having played volleyball. Same goes for Horace Mann, an elite prep school Santos claimed to have briefly attended in his biography, which also had no record of him. He claimed to have worked at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, and not only is that demonstrably false, Santos admitted to having lied about all of the above claims, chalking it up to the idea that everyone pads their resume. You almost have to admire this level of delusional confidence!
-
But wait, there’s (much, much) more! There’s also that Santos repeatedly claimed to be Jewish, including to the Republican Jewish Coalition, but in a recent Fox News interview he insisted that he had not lied and had only referred to himself as “Jew-ish” (I wish we were kidding). As if that weren’t bad enough, he claimed his maternal grandparents escaped from the Holocaust. He has since admitted to being raised Catholic, and genealogists confirmed that his maternal grandparents were born in Brazil.
- Of course, you can’t have a New York Liar without a lie about 9/11. Santos claimed in a tweet that his mother died in the 2001 terrorist attacks, but then five months later, claimed that his mother died on December 23, 2016. A review of Santos’s mother’s employment history found no signs of her ever working or living anywhere near Ground Zero. Is she even dead? Apparently yes. Is his name even George Santos? Who the hell knows?! We’re seriously not sure. As recently as 2019, Santos was introducing himself publicly as “Anthony Devolder” a combination of his middle name and his mother’s maiden name.
|
|
|
Somehow, we’re not even close to finished yet.
-
According to one of Santos’s own friends, his peers in Brazil knew him only as “Anthony” or by his drag name “Kitara.” Santos said back in October that he is “openly gay,” and has “never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade.” Well wouldn’t you know, Santos was married to a woman, whom he divorced less than three years ago. He supported Florida’s draconian “Don’t Say Gay” bill, and aligned himself with the far-right members of the House who have demonized drag shows. Santos also appears to have founded and run a fraudulent animal charity, and even absconded with $3,000 of funds that were raised for a lifesaving surgery of a dog owned by a homeless veteran. It’s like this guy is going for the World Record.
-
New York State Democrats and Republicans alike have called for his resignation from Congress, with New York Republicans saying that he “disgraced the House of Representatives,” but Santos has remained obstinate and refused bipartisan calls for his withdrawal. It probably helps that Santos isn’t facing any such calls from the actual House GOP caucus or leadership, who have signaled that he will be given committee assignments like any other member of Congress.
At some level, we expect Republican politicians to be liars, but Santos has raised it to a pathology (I would have said an artform, but he’s not a good enough liar). Still, it says a lot about the current Republican apparatus that in his own party’s House leadership, no one is batting an eyelash. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has pledged to seat Santos on committees as normal, and for all we know he’ll probably be the next president of the United States.
|
|
|
Remember how Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) resigned in disgrace in 2021? Well his successor, Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) is already embroiled in scandals of her own less than two years on the job. After a protracted battle, Hochul’s nominee to be New York’s highest-ranking judge, the chief judge of the state court of appeals, was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee. Judge Hector LaSalle’s confirmation hearing lasted five hours, during which Democrats rigorously questioned him about his decisions, which they said demonstrate a bias towards prosecutors, employers, and anti-abortion groups. Hochul chose LaSalle last month from a list of seven candidates, many of whom had more progressive records and were supported by New York Democrats and progressive advocacy groups. LaSalle was a prosecutor for 15 years before becoming a judge in 2008.
The State Court of Appeals has drifted rightward in recent years, and the chief judge has final say in interpreting state laws and overseeing the court system. State Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brad Hoylman said that a thorough vetting of LaSalle was necessary amid the right-wing Supreme Court’s recent decisions and the hundreds of ultra right-wing federal judges the Trump administration pushed through during his single term. From the announcement of his nomination, LaSalle was opposed by several unions, reproductive rights groups, and other community organizations, as too conservative to hold high office, and would only tilt the court further to the right. LaSalle’s confirmation was rejected by a vote of 10-9, and Gov. Hochul immediately announced that she plans to sue the state Senate if necessary to force a confirmation. Many have categorized LaSalle’s defeat as a victory for “progressives” but most mainstream Albany Democrats publicly or privately opposed him as well. Aren’t state politics fun??
|
|
|
When an industry or corporation spends money to recruit enough supporters and spread enough misinformation to mimic a grassroots campaign, we call it “astroturf.” That’s exactly what happened in Ohio, where years of this exact kind of lobbying culminated in Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) signing a bill this month to legally redefine natural gas as a source of “green energy.” Supporters characterized this move as the cherry on top of an organic political groundswell in the Buckeye State, but as with most legislation tied to the fossil-fuel industry, that isn’t true. Two major dark-money groups, the Empowerment Alliance, and the American Legislative Exchange Council, both riddled with ties to the fossil-fuel industry and overwhelmingly conservative, helped Republican lawmakers push the narrative that methane gas is “clean” (it’s not) and then get the redefinition legislation over the finish line. Considering how often Fox News types invoke Orwell’s 1984 to describe (basically any) Democratic legislation, this is some real Ministry of Truth shit.
|
|
|
Say goodbye to furniture envy.
Article is the easiest way to create a beautiful modern space — all at the click of a button. From plush sofas you can curl up in, to designer-curated bundles that take the guesswork out of decorating, Article’s selection of furniture makes it easy to create a space you’ll feel right at home in. Article is offering our readers $50 off their first purchase of $100 or more.
To claim, visit article.com/crooked and the discount will be automatically applied at checkout.
|
|
|
|
|
