Santos’s Lies Were Known By Campaign Staff

Rep. In late 2021, as he prepared to make a Second Run for a Suburban New York City House Seat, George Santos (R-NY, 3rd District) gave permission for his Campaign to Commission a routine Background Study on him.

Campaigns frequently rely on this kind of Research, known as Vulnerability Studies, to identify anything Problematic that an Opponent might seize on.

But when the Report came back on Santos, the Findings by a Washington Research Firm were far more startling, suggesting a Pattern of Deception, that cut to the heart of the Image, he had cultivated as a Wealthy Financier.

Some of Santos’s own Vendors were so alarmed after seeing the Study in late November 2021. that they urged him to Drop-Out of the Race, and warned that he could risk Public Humiliation by continuing. When Santos disputed Key Findings and vowed to continue Running, Members of the Campaign Team quit.

The Episode is the most Explicit Evidence to date, that a small circle of well-connected Republican Campaign Professionals had indications far earlier than the Public, that Santos was spinning an elaborate web of Deceits, and that the Candidate himself had been warned about just how Vulnerable those Lies were to unraveling.

Fraudulent Academic Degrees. Involvement in a Firm accused of a Ponzi Scheme. Multiple Evictions,a suspended Driver’s License. All of it was in the Report, which also said that Santos, who is openly gay, had been Married to a Woman, and Devoiced. The Report did Not offer conclusive details, but somePpeople briefed on the Findings, wondered whether the Marriage was done for Immigration Citizenship purposes, an Illegal Act.

It remains unclear who else, if anyone, learned about the Background Study’s contents at the time, or if the iIformation made its way to Party Leaders in New York or Washington. Santos, 34, managed to keep almost all of it from the Public until after he was Elected, when an Investigation by The Times, independently unearthed the Problematic claims Documented by Researchers and others that they Missed.

Santos himself has admitted to some Fabrications, but insists he was merely embellishing his Qualifications. Local, State, and Federal Prosecutors, are now Investigating his Financial Activities, including the Federal Election Commision (FEC).

Then there is the Brazil Criminal Case that was just Re-Openned. He is Accused of Stealing a Check Book, Forging Checks to buy cloths, and Not paying back the Salesperson who had to pay for the Cloths, that he aggred to do..

The existence of the Vulnerability Study underscores One of the most vexing questions still surrounding the strange saga of George Santos: How did the Gate-Keeping system of American Politics, Republican Leaders, Adversarial Democrats, and the prying Media, allow a Fabulist who boasted about Phantom Mansions and a Fake Résumé get away with his Con for so long? Interviews with more than Two Dozen Associates, Adversaries, and Donors, as well as Contemporaneous Communications, and other Documents reviewed by The Times, show that Santos inspired No shortage of Suspicion during his 2022 Campaign, including in the Upper Echelons of his own Party.

Well-connected Supporters suspected him of lying and demanded to see his Résumé. Another former Campaign Vendor warned a State Party Official, about what he believed were questionable Business Practices. And the Head of the main House Republican super PAC told some Lawmakers and Donors that he believed Santos’s Story did Not add up.

But in each case, rather than denounce Santos Publicly, the Republicans looked the other way. They neglected to get the attention of more Powerful Leaders or to piece together shards of doubt about him, and allowed him to Run Unopposed in the 2022 Primary. Some assumed that Santos’s Falsehoods were garden variety Political Embellishments. Others thought Democrats would do their Dirty work for them and Santos would be Exposed in the heat of a General Election Campaign.

But Democrats struggled to do so. In 2020, the Party Incumbent, Tom Suozzi, Dismissed Santos as a Nonviable Threat, and conducted No Opposition Research at all, while cruising to Victory. When Democrats did Vet him Two years later, they Failed to find some of the most egregious Fabrications that prompted Members of Santos’s Campaign Team to Quit.

Democrats then labored Unsuccessfully to convince the News Media, which had been weakened by years of Staff Cuts and consumed by Higher-profile Races, to dig into the troubling leads they did unearth. Aside from The North Shore Leader, a small Weekly Newspaper on Long Island, which labeled Santos “a fake”, and a few Opinion pieces in Newsday, New York’s Media machine paid Santos scant attention.

“The reality is there’s no defense, it shouldn’t have happened,” said Gerard Kassar, the Chairman of the New York Conservative Party, a small but influential Partner to the Republican Party that backed Santos. “It would be impossible and probably incorrect for me to say this could never happen again, but it won’t be from me not looking again.”










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