A New York state district attorney is looking into Rep.-elect George Santos (R-NY) after he admitted "embellishing parts of his resume," drawing calls for his resignation. The resume formed a central part of his campaign as House Republicans prepare to take the majority by a slim margin. Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, a Republican, told Axios that "residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress ... The numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning. No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it,” she added. The district attorney's office did not provide specifics on the scope of the investigation. A separate federal investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn is focused at least in part on his financial dealings, the New York Times reports.
Aspects of Santos’ background came into question after the New York Times cast doubts on biographical claims he made on the campaign trail. He said his mother was Jewish and his grandparents fled the Holocaust. He retracted those claims Monday, saying "my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.'” The Republican Jewish Coalition disavowed Santos, saying he had caused "profound" damage to "many people, especially those who have been impacted by the Holocaust." Santos falsely claimed to have worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs and had qualifications from Baruch College and New York University.