Last Updated on December 29, 2022
A PAC associated with Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy sent money to help the campaign effort of George Devolder-Santos, the New York Republican congressman-elect who is generating controversy for lying to portray himself as a Jewish financier in his campaign.
Republican Congressman-elect George Santos from New York is under fire for lying about his past, including allegedly making up a college degree for himself from Baruch College, a work history for himself at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and also pretending to be Jewish. The Santos campaign website said that his family “fled Jewish persecution in Europe…” Santos later stated, “I never claimed to be Jewish. I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”
Santos also reportedly may have covered up his marriage to a woman, which he allegedly ended right before he ran for office as an open gay man.
The scandal applies pressure to embattled Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, who is facing fierce opposition from Andy Biggs in the race for House Speaker in the incoming Republican majority. As of press time, McCarthy has still not commented on the Santos situation. Democrats are targeting McCarthy for his silence and piling on with calls for the House to hold a vote to potentially expel Santos from Congress.
Take Back the House PAC, a political action committee that is routinely reported as being Kevin McCarthy’s PAC or being either “connected to” Kevin McCarthy or outright led by Kevin McCarthy, provided money to Santos’ campaign effort in the amount of $53,904, stepping in to AstroTurf Santos over the goal line even as the Congressional Leadership Fund ignored Santos (leading to speculation that Republicans might have known about Santos’ lies before the media reported on them). So what did McCarthy know and when did he know it?
Stay tuned to National File for any updates.
