George Santos says he’s ‘been a terrible liar,’ but latest interview leaves more questions than it answers
A long, in-depth interview might have given Rep. George Santos a chance to get along with the American people.
In a 40-minute conversation with British broadcaster Piers Morgan, which aired on YouTube on Monday, Morgan urged Santos to admit he was a “horrible liar”.
“I’ve been a terrible liar on these issues,” Santos said in a minute-long video Clip shared on Twitter. “It wasn’t about tricking people. It was about being accepted by the party.”
In the 40-minute interview, however, Santos admitted to only one complete fabrication: that he didn’t go to Baruch College.
He spent most of the conversation rehashing disproved elements of his biography, including his alleged Jewish origins, the presence of his late mother during the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and the alleged non-profit organization he ran.
Instead, the Republican legislature presented itself as a victim, telling Morgan that had he understood the personal cost, he would not have run for office at all.
“I just wanted to give something back,” he said. “But if I had known that in many cases this would sacrifice my safety and privacy, I would not have done it.”
Santos’ dizzying string of campaign lies has captured public attention since the first revelations were made by a New York Times investigation last December.
The new congressman, who represents parts of Queens and Long Island, is now embroiled in multiple state and local investigations and has been despised by voters and peers on both sides of the aisle.
During Monday’s interview, Santos insisted his mother was in one of the twin towers at the time of the September 11 terrorist attacks, although he did not say what she was doing there. Immigration documents obtained by genealogists showed that she was in Brazil during the 2001 attacks trying to get a stolen green card back. But on Monday, Santos insisted the family had been to Queens and that his mother was in one of the towers.
“Did she lie about her visa application?” Morgan asked.
“I don’t know. I was a kid when those things were done,” Santos replied.
Santos reiterated that he attended the elite Horace Mann school in the Bronx for six months in ninth grade. Ed Adler, a spokesman for the school, said Horace Mann had no record of his attendance, which would include students who had not completed a year there.
Santos dodged other questions – for example, he insisted that he wasn’t a big part of the animal rescue group Friends of Pets United, so he had no idea if it was non-profit or not. That group made headlines last month when a disabled veteran claimed Santos cheated him out of money raised for life-saving surgery for a dog.
Federal investigators are now investigating the group. The IRS has no record of it being registered as a nonprofit, although Santos claims he “founded and operated a 501(c)(3) nonprofit called Friends of Pets United (FOPU) from 2013 to 2018,” according to an archived one Version from the website on the WayBack Machine.
During his interview on Monday, Santos said he had no knowledge of the finances and perhaps one of the other “seven founders” would know.
When asked about reports that he scammed a homeless disabled veteran out of $3,000 that the man needs for his dog’s surgery, Santos insisted; “I have never met this man. I feel for him,” he categorically denied the account.
“I spoke directly to Mr. Santos and he can deny whatever he wants,” said Michael Boll, who runs the NJ Veterans Network and helped represent veteran Richard Ostoff during the 2016 debacle. Neither Boll nor Ostoff met Santos in person, but both men exchanged texts and phone calls with Santos, he said. “George Santos is now known as the biggest liar alive and will follow him for life.”