George Santos ‘vulnerability report’ shows staff knew pol was lying about past

An internal report on lying Long Island Rep. George Santos’ political weaknesses laid out the Republican’s many fabrications more than a year before his successful 2022 run for Congress.

The 2021 “vulnerability report” compiled by Capital Research Group, LLC, reveals the 35-year-old’s many falsehoods about his education and employment history, according to some of those documents obtained by CBS News.

A portion of the 100-page report highlighted that Santos had claimed to hold degrees from Baruch College and New York University despite no corresponding record from either institution, had worked for accused fraudsters and scammers, had gotten into romantic entanglements with potential illegal immigrants of both sexes and held liberal stances on energy, immigration and health care.

The disclosures prompted three staffers affiliated with the Santos campaign to resign, a source familiar with the matter told The Post Friday.


Rep. George Santos (R-NY)
Newly released research documents on Rep. George Santos (R-NY) show his campaign staff knew the Long Island congressman was lying about his past even before his 2022 run for office.
REUTERS

Other portions of the report detailed Santos’ false claims about his mother being Jewish and his grandparents having escaped the Nazis during World War II, CBS News reported.

The truth-challenged GOP lawmaker later told The Post in December 2022 that he was “clearly Catholic” and his grandmother had told him stories about their Jewish heritage before converting to Roman Catholicism.

“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos said at the time. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”


Rep. George Santos (R-NY)
A 2021 “vulnerability report” compiled by Capital Research Group, LLC, reveals the many fabrications the New York Republican made about his education and employment history.
AFP via Getty Images

The Santos campaign paid $16,682.06 to Capital on Dec. 2, 2021, for the research documents, federal campaign filings show.

Reps for the campaign and the congressman’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Republican operatives were reportedly wary of Santos’ candidacy after seeing the report and for a time considered Michelle Bond, the girlfriend of newly convicted FTX executive Ryan Salame, to run for the Third District seat, the source familiar with the matter also told The Post.


Rep. George Santos (R-NY)
Other portions detailed his false claims about his mother being Jewish and his grandparents having escaped the Nazis during World War II.
AP

Salame pleaded guilty on Thursday to two counts of criminal conspiracy for making illegal campaign contributions last year through the now-defunct crypto giant.

Bond, an actual Baruch graduate, instead ran in the First Congressional District, losing her primary to now-GOP Rep. Nick LaLota.

The Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC, which works to elect Republicans to the House of Representatives, also did not support the Santos campaign, the source confirmed.


Rep. George Santos (R-NY)
The disclosures prompted three members affiliated with the campaign to resign, a source familiar with the matter told The Post.
REUTERS

Santos, 34, was indicted in May for allegedly having embezzled $50,000 in campaign funds to purchase designer clothing and pay personal expenses.

He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $500,000 bond that was posted by his father and aunt.

Some of the financial discrepancies detailed in the Santos indictment also appeared in the 2021 report, including a detailed look at his personal finances, which the congressman later claimed to include income and other assets worth around $11 million.

“Santos says his professional experience is working in finance and helping wealth grow,” the report reads, “but his personal financial disclosure filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives shows no personal investments or assets.”