Here’s What The Incoming New York Congressman Has—And Hasn’t—Admitted To And

Education: Santos has admitted that he has not graduated from any higher learning institution after initially claiming he graduated from Baruch College in 2010.

Professional career: During his 2022 campaign, he claimed he had stints at financial giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs but now admits this is not true, and told The New York Post his job as vice president at LinkBridge Investors allowed him to work with those companies, but not directly for them, blaming a “poor choice of words.”

Criminal record: The New York Times reported finding court records in Brazil showing that, when he was 19, he was confessed to police that he wrote checks (including one for a pair of shoes) with a stolen checkbook, though Santos denies it, telling the NY Post “I am not a criminal here — not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world.”

Real estate properties: Santos previously stated that he and his family have 13 properties in a real estate portfolio, but now admits he does not personally own any properties.

Eviction: The Times reported that Santos has had previous eviction cases against him, and he now says a judge did indeed order him to pay more than $12,000 to a former landlord in Sunnyside, Queens, which he says he owed because he was in medical debt following his mother’s fight with cancer.

His marriage to a woman: The Daily Beast reported that Santos, the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat, never disclosed a past marriage with a woman during his campaign, though he now tells the NY Post he is a happily married gay man and comfortable with his sexuality.

Family background: His campaign site said his maternal grandparents were “Belgian immigrants that fled the devastation of World War II Europe,” though reports by The Forward show they were born in Brazil.

Santos told City & State in a video interview he had long heard the story of his grandparents being Holocaust refugees, though says he never claimed to be Jewish (he identifies as Catholic), saying his maternal grandparents Jewish heritage has made him “Jew-ish.”

His charitable organization: Santos claimed he founded the charity Friends of Pets United from 2013-2018 and claimed to have rescued over 2,400 dogs and 280 cats, though the Times reported no IRS documents for the charity can be found, and he now says he mostly just campaigned for the charity and helped find foster homes for the animals.