Incoming NY congressman who said grandparents fled Holocaust accused of fabricating Jewish heritage

Incoming Republican Representative George Santos is being criticized for allegedly lying on his resume and fabricating parts of his life story, namely that in addition to having Jewish heritage, his grandparents fled the Holocaust in Europe. 

During his campaign, Santos portrayed himself as growing up in a working-class, immigrant family in Queens and getting a high school equivalency diploma. From there he rose in the world of finance, ending with his participation in “landmark deals on Wall Street.”

However, the colleges where he allegedly obtained his degrees did not have any records that he had attended, including Baruch College and New York University. Similarly, several companies where he allegedly worked have no record of him as an employee, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Metglobal, and LinkBridge Investors. 

Since the discrepancies with Santos’ resume were first reported by the New York Times on Monday, other aspects of his career and life have come into question. 

Additionally, Santos, who has called himself “half Jewish” and a “Latino Jew” in the media, claimed that his grandparents “survived the Holocaust” as Ukrainian Jewish refugees from Belgium and changed their last name to survive. However, family trees, records on Jewish refugees, and interviews with genealogists contradict his claims.

Santos also faced an unresolved criminal investigation in Brazil, where he once lived with his family. 

The congressman-elect’s attorneys said that Santos was being targeted by people “threatened” by his politics. 

“It is no surprise that Congressman-elect Santos has enemies at the New York Times who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations,” the lawyer, Joseph Murray, said in a statement.

However, the Republican Jewish Coalition said on Wednesday it was making inquiries into the allegations about Santos' grandparents surviving the Holocaust and the possibility he fabricated his purported Jewish heritage. 

“These allegations, if true, are deeply troubling,” Brooks told The Hill. “Given this seriousness, the congressman-elect owes the public an explanation, and we look forward to hearing it.”

New York’s incoming House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries also accused Santos of being a “complete and utter fraud,” who made up his story to gain votes. 

“His whole life. Made up,” Mr. Jeffries said at a news conference in Washington. “Did you perpetrate a fraud on voters of the Third Congressional District of New York?”