Two Democratic lawmakers from New York filed a complaint Tuesday with the House Ethics Committee against freshman Rep. George Santos, the Republican who admitted to lying about key aspects of his background, for his “failure to file timely, accurate and complete financial disclosure reports.”
In their complaint, Reps. Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres request an investigation into Santos, 34, who is also from New York, for his financial disclosure reports, alleging that he violated the Ethics in Government Act. They cited recent reports, as well as Santos’ own admission, and said he “misled voters in his district about his ethnicity, his religion, his education, and his employment and professional history, among other things.”
They say Santos’ financial disclosure reports in 2020 and 2022 are “sparse and perplexing,” saying that he failed to file “timely disclosure reports” for his most recent campaign and that his public statements “contradicted some information” in his 2022 financial disclosure.
“Given the revelations about his biography, as well as the public information pertaining to his financial disclosures, Mr. Santos has failed to uphold the integrity expected of members of the House of Representatives,” the complaint reads. “We therefore respectfully request that you investigate this matter to determine the extent of these violations and take appropriate action as soon as possible.”
Goldman and Torres also took their complaint to Santos in his office, who instructed them to give it to his staffer by the door. Santos did not answer questions when he left his office later Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after they took the complaint to Santos, Goldman said Santos “needs to be held accountable for his lies, and we hope that the House Ethics Committee will seriously investigate.”
The complaint was filed just days after Santos officially took office after Republicans finally elected Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as House speaker following 15 rounds contentious of votes last week. Santos voted for McCarthy in all of the rounds.
Santos became embroiled in controversy after he confessed to having lied about parts of his résumé, including his education and employment history, prompting several investigations into his campaign and calls for him to resign.
Santos, who made LGBTQ political history when he won the November race in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, first came under scrutiny after The New York Times published a bombshell investigation last month. The paper said it was unable to substantiate many of Santos’ alleged qualifications, such as that he had worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and had graduated from Baruch College.
Upon entering Congress, Santos did not appear to get a warm welcome from most of his GOP colleagues. During the numerous speaker votes last week, Santos was often seen sitting by himself, except for one occasion when he was photographed chatting with far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
