Out Gay Congressman-Elect Allegedly Had Secret Wife

Openly gay Congressman-elect George Santos has been the centre of controversy since the New York Times reported several gaps in stories of his personal life this week. The politician became the first out LGBTQ+ Republican elected to the House of Representatives in November and may have made false claims about his employment history and previous partners. 

According to a New York Times investigation that looked at his resume, they could not verify several aspects of his claims.

12 days before official paperwork was filed for his failed 2020 congressional campaign,  court documents found that “George A. Devolder Santos” finalised a divorce with a woman named, Uadla Santos Vieira Santos.

According to The Daily Beast, there is only one person in the United States with that name. Santos’ campaign name was also notably “Devolder Santos for Congress”. The divorce was uncontested.

Gaps in Congressman-Elect Santos’ Personal Life

There were additional reports of many gaps in Santos’ life story including where he studied. Santos said he graduated from Baruch College, attended New York University, and worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

However, none of these places has a record of him either studying or working at these institutions. 

Santos defeated another gay man, Democrat Robert Zimmerman for an open seat in New York’s 3rd congressional district. The district includes parts of the North Shore of Long Island and expands across northern Nassau County and into far northeastern Queens. 

Zimmermann posted a statement to Twitter, emphasising that his campaign had been “calling out [Santos’s] scams and lies about himself for several months.”

“We’ve worked to raise many of these issues,” Zimmerman wrote. 

Robert Zimmerman's Statement on @nytimes Investigative Report on @Santos4Congress

"This story is not a shock, and The New York Times' in-depth and critical investigative reporting adds many important dimensions to the story.
🧵1/5 pic.twitter.com/8hruqsMu7c

— Robert Zimmerman (@ZimmermanRob) December 19, 2022

Santos identifies as gay and has previously said  that he resides with his husband Matt. Santos also claimed that his pharmacist husband Matt lost his job because the pair were found attending Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort without masks at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Previously, the Congressman-elect had declared that four of his employees died in the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando in 2016. But The Times review disputed these claims after “news coverage and obituaries found that none of the 49 victims appear to have worked at the various firms named in his biography.” 

Allegations of Financial Mismanagement

The Times also reported that Santos was previously charged with stealing a check book from a man in Brazil in 2008 and had been twice evicted from apartments in Queens for nonpayment of rent.

There was little evidence that Santos’ animal rescue group, Friends of Pets United, was a tax-exempt organisation, as he claimed.  The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could locate no record of a registered charity with that name.

Santos has reported a $750,000 salary and over $1 million in dividends from his company, the Devolder Organization. However, The Times found that the firm failed to have a presence online, with an absent public website or LinkedIn page. 

“The reality is Santos flat-out lied to the voters of #NY03. He’s violated the public trust in order to win office and does not deserve to represent #LongIsland and #Queens,” Zimmerman wrote. 

Zimmermann declared that Santos’ “failure to answer any of the questions about these allegations demonstrates why he is unfit for public office and should resign.”

Santos' failure to answer any of the questions about these allegations demonstrates why he is unfit for public office and should resign. It demonstrates why there must be a House Ethics Committee, Federal Elections Commission, and U.S. Attorney investigation immediately."
🧵5/5

— Robert Zimmerman (@ZimmermanRob) December 19, 2022

Following The Times report, Santos’ lawyer Joe Murray issued a statement saying Congressman-elect Santos had “enemies at The New York Times” who were “attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations.” 

“George Santos represents the kind of progress that the Left is so threatened by – a gay, Latino, first-generation American and republican who won a Biden district in overwhelming fashion by showing everyday voters that there is a better option than the broken promises and failed policies of the Democratic Party,” Murray said. 

The statement failed to deny the findings within The Times‘ report.