New york to george santos: resign

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free _Mother Jones Daily_. Earlier this month, in his first on-the-record

statement rejecting calls to resign after he admitted to lying about huge swaths of his resume, a defiant Rep. George Santos insisted that he would step down only if voters turned against

him. “We’ll find out in two years,” Santos said. But Santos may not have to wait until reelection to find out. A new Siena poll, the first to directly ask registered voters in New York about

their scandal-plagued congressman, revealed that 59 percent of those surveyed want Santos to step down. Seventeen percent said he should not resign, and 23 percent didn’t have an opinion. 

The poll, of course, is just one snapshot of Santos’ tanking support across the Empire State. But if Santos’ tenure in Congress, as he claims, truly relies on the will of his constituents,

the survey is not good news, particularly as multiple investigations into his financial background pick up steam. Let’s review just some of the lies and falsehoods surrounding Santos’ brief

but tumultuous time in Congress so far: My colleagues David Corn, Dan Friedman, and Noah Lanard also recently looked into allegations that Santos conned a prominent GOP donor, Andrew

Intrater, who also happens to be a cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Santos’ scandals are not limited to the United States, either. As my colleague Isabela Dias has

reported from Brazil:  > A popular Brazilian late-night TV show called _Fantástico _aired a > segment with new findings about Santos. The congressman reportedly > used different 

names and nationalities—like Russian—on dating > app profiles. He used variations of his name, too, including George > Devolder, Anthony Devolder, and Anthony Zabrovski. >  > The

 Brazilian TV show reported that Santos splurged while living in > Niterói in 2008 with his mother, who passed away in 2016, and his > sister. In an interview, a woman called Adriana 

Damasceno claimed to > have met Santos at a Bingo parlor. Damasceno said they became > friends and that during a trip to the United States in 2011, > he went “shopping under her 

name, withdrew all the money she had > in the bank, and even pawned jewelry.” When asked about whether > she had reported anything to authorities, Damasceno said Santos > bragged 

about having dual citizenship—American and Brazilian—and > that she felt powerless to come forward. Where will the Santos mystery take us next? I have no clue. But New Yorkers are making

it clear they’re not amused.