2 LI Republicans urge House ethics panel to investigate George Santos

WASHINGTON — Two top Long Island Republicans called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate Congressman-elect George Santos a day after the embattled politician conceded in a series of interviews that he had lied about his educational background and work experience.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and incoming Rep. Nick LaLota (R-Bay Shore) each told Newsday that congressional investigators should look into Santos' record, which has come into question after a New York Times investigation found a number of holes in the biography he touted on the campaign trail.

"I think that he's entitled to a hearing with the [House] Ethics Committee, and that they should do a thorough investigation to see if he violated any laws or any ethics rules," Blakeman said in an interview. "I think that we have to let the process unfold, which I think will happen fairly swiftly."

LaLota, who is part of the freshman class of legislators set to be sworn in with Santos on Jan. 3, said in a statement to Newsday that he believes a "full investigation by the House Ethics Committee and, if necessary, law enforcement is required."

"New Yorkers deserve the truth and House Republicans deserve an opportunity to govern without this distraction," LaLota said.

Other Long Island GOP leaders also continued to criticize Santos but stopped short of calling for him to resign after he defended his actions in media interviews as "embellishing his resume."

Nassau GOP chairman Joseph Cairo said in a statement Tuesday that while Santos “has broken the public trust by making serious misstatements regarding his background,” he should still serve his term in Congress.

“He has a lot of work to do to regain the trust of voters and everyone who he represents in Congress," Cairo said.

Questions also continue to linger about the source of Santos’ income through a private firm and the source of $700,000 he lent to his campaign in his second bid for New York’s Third Congressional District.

Santos, 34, in an interview with the New York Post published Monday admitted that he never graduated from “any institution of higher learning” despite previously touting degrees from Baruch College and New York University.

Santos was forced to defend his background after a Times investigation published last week outlined a number of discrepancies with the biography he touted on the campaign trail of being a college-educated, wealthy business owner whose family owned 13 properties. Public records show there is no record of his family owning property in the area, the Times said, but he has been ordered by the courts to pay $12,000 in unpaid rent for an apartment in Sunnyside, Queens.

Santos, who defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman in November, also acknowledged to the Post that he never worked directly for Citigroup or Goldman Sachs as he previously claimed on his since-scrubbed campaign website.

“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos said Monday.

Cairo and others also took issue with Santos’ previous claims that his maternal grandparents were Jews who fled to Brazil from Belgium to escape the Holocaust.

North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jen DeSena, in a statement, said: "I am particularly offended that he would fabricate family history with regard to the Holocaust. Our Jewish neighbors, as well as all of our residents, deserve better. Now, Mr. Santos must be honest and accountable to the public going forward if he truly wants to repair the damage he has caused."

Santos, in a Nov. 22 interview with the Jewish News Syndicate, said his maternal grandfather “fled Stalin’s persecution in Ukraine, finding refuge and a wife in Belgium before escaping Hitler’s reign.” In a campaign video, he described his grandparents as Holocaust survivors.

The company had an estimated value of $43,688, according to a July  analysis conducted by the financial data firm Dun & Bradstreet, that was reviewed by The Washington Post. As a privately held company, Devolder is not required to release public financial reports, but Dun & Bradstreet used "modeling" and "data science" to determine the company's worth, according to the Post.