George Santos, the Republican congressman who invented his resume, indicted for fraud and money laundering

The flight forward of George Santos, the Republican congressman for New York in the pillory for inventing much of his curriculum, has ended this Wednesday in a federal court in New York, where he has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three of money laundering, one of theft of public funds and two more for making false statements to the House of Representatives. Santos, who has gone to court, was elected representative in the midterm elections last November.

After the first lies came to light at the end of December – the makeup of certain aspects of his academic record and his professional experience – the cascade of fabulations about his life snowballed, which did not prevent him from being sworn in at the Capitol in January as a representative for the prosperous district of Long Island. Although, surrounded by the revelations of the media, he admitted to having fattened some parts of his curriculum, he insisted on not renouncing the act of deputy and only stepped aside from the two committees of the House that corresponded to integrate. In late April, he could still be seen on the Republican caucus in a solemn joint session of Congress with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol. Although by then he was already a stinker in his own party, some of whose members had asked him to resign his seat, Santos wore the insignia that identifies congressmen on his lapel. Several co-religionists have joined the chorus today calling for his resignation, although by law Santos can continue to sit in his seat even though he is charged.

CNN reported Tuesday afternoon that federal prosecutors had indicted Santos, 34, without specifying the charges. Reached by telephone by an Associated Press reporter, Santos replied: "This is new to me. You are the first one who asks me about this." This Wednesday, the congressman turned himself in and went to court while the Prosecutor's Office of the Eastern District of New York made public the possible crimes of which he is accused. Both the Justice Department and the FBI have worked together on the investigation into the alleged violation of campaign rules and federal conflict of interest laws.

In addition to these institutionally and politically major crimes, which could cost him a 20-year prison sentence if convicted, Santos is being pursued by bizarre, not to say ridiculous, accusations: stealing money raised in a social media campaign for the dying dog of an Iraq War veteran; Organizing a credit card fraud scheme or even stealing a dog from an Amish dairy. Nothing glamorous for a supposedly brilliant life, thanks to inventing degrees from New York University and Baruch College, as well as professional experience, equally false, in the important Wall Street firms Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Two fabulations that match the image of a guy victim of "delusions of grandeur" who made him a roommate.

In addition, he also boasted of a false Jewish heritage, linked to the Holocaust by his grandparents, and a mother victim of 11-S, when that day in 2001 his mother was not even in New York. It so happens that many voters in his district are descendants of victims of the Holocaust, which led journalist Andrew Silverstein to investigate the veracity of his affiliation. Silverstein exposed the fraud, before being picked up in late December by The New York Times and, immediately, the falsehoods became a major political scandal. Santos, who is openly gay, also angered the LGBTIQ community by hiding that he had maintained a marriage of convenience with a woman until 2019.

Santos, whose election contributed in part to breaking traditional Democratic dominance in New York, was one of the guest stars at the hardline Republican caucus in New York in February that brought together conspicuous anti-Semites and white supremacists. His seemed like a race destined to shine, as a representative of that Republican outpost in a traditionally Democratic state. Now, with Santos in the hands of justice, the Republican Party contains at least the oil stain that threatened to spread in the middle of the electoral campaign for the presidential elections of 2024, when its best-placed candidate, Donald Trump, also faces judicial setbacks.

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