George Santos, the Republican representative-elect of New York, admitted to lying about his college education and job experience in an interview with the New York Post on Monday.
But he did not indicate that he would be stepping down from his newly elected position.
“My sins here are embellishing my résumé. I’m sorry,” he said.
The New York Times reported about his résumé last week, alleging that Santos had lied about working at two Wall Street banks, namely Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and getting college degrees in finance and economics.
He also claimed he was Jewish and that he “lost four employees” at the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in June 2016, “but a Times review of news coverage and obituaries found that none of the 49 victims appear to have worked at the various firms named in his biography,” per the report.
CNN confirmed the findings of the Times report.
Santos, 34, told the Post that he worked for Link Bridge as a vice president and that is how he worked with Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, implying that previous statements were simply a “poor choice of words.”
As for the religion he subscribes to, Santos told the Post that he never claimed to be Jewish. “I am Catholic,” he said. “Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”
He also acknowledged that he didn't graduate from any college. The Times report also stated that Santos was once charged with fraud over a stolen checkbook.
In another interview with WABC radio host John Catsimatidis, the representative-elect said he wasn't a criminal.
“To get down to the nit and gritty, I’m not a fraud. I’m not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional character and ran for Congress. I’ve been around a long time. I mean, a lot of people know me. They know who I am. They’ve done business dealings with me,” he added.
Santos ran for Congress in 2020 and was elected earlier in November, per The Guardian. He is set to represent parts of Long Island and Queens in New York.