both baruch college and new york university tell abc news they have no record of anyone with his name and date of birth. attending goldman sachs and citigroup also say they have no record of him working there. his opponent in last month's race now calling for a full investigation. the house ethics committee has got to investigate these allegations. the times report also brings into question santos charity group friends of pets united, which he claims saved thousands of cats and dogs . but abc news could find no iris record of a charity with that name. republican officials from long island are now asking for time to give santos an opportunity to address the questions about his resume. andrew andrea. thank you, former hollywood producer harvey weinstein is now a twice convicted rapist. los angeles jury yesterday found him guilty on three of seven counts at his sexual assault trial. the jury returns to court today to decide his punishment. he faces up to 24 years in prison, and that would be on top of the 23 years . he's serving for a similar conviction in new york, which is under appeal

among the claims, embellished his graduation from baruch college. tells the "new york post," i didn't graduate from any institution of higher learning the republican is under fire after "the new york times" revealed his biography couldn't be entirely corroborated, including a claim on his website that he used to be an associate asset manager at citigroup the 34-year-old now saying he never worked directly for citigroup. and there are questions about his heritage here is santos at the republican jewish coalition last november, speaking about congressman lee zeldin. >> lee has served as an inspiration, as a friend, and as a leader for the jewish folks in congress and for all of us in this room, by at one point being just two members. so now we're going to be three >> reporter: santos tells "the post," i never claimed to be jewish i am catholic. he has not responded to nbc news's request for comment. today his constituents in long island had mixed opinions what do you think should happen with george santos? >> i'm very concerned about it i think the --

but when we reached out to baruch, goldman sachs and citgroup, they all told us that name did not match their records. his lawyer calling it all a campaign to smear his good name. tonight, santos breaking his silence, saying that he's committed to delivering on the results that he campaigned on. he says he plans to speak out next week, insisting he has a story to tell, linsey. >> many eager to hear that story. rachel, thank you. >>> today, president biden delivered a christmas address from the white house, facing a republican-controlled house in the new year. the president offered an optimistic look at what's ahead, focusing on all that unites us. >> as tough as these times have been, if we look a little closer, we see bright spots all across the country. the strength, the determination, the resilience, that's long defined america. we're surely making progress. >> president biden and first lady dr. jill biden will be spending christmas at the white house. >>> when we come back, the news just coming in here in new york. a fire aboard the iconic staten island ferry. passengers forced to e

college and received an mba from nyu. >> stand proud with a bachelors degree from baruch college andman telling cnn something different. the university records do not reflect anyone with that name having attended nyu. while spokesperson from baruch college could not findhi with his name ever attending the school and mentioned stints at citi group and goldman sachs. neither have any reports of his employment. santos listed on his 2022 financial disclosure a salary of $750,000. it claimed he made the same amount next year. income, he says he earned from an organization which he says is his family's firm. a search showed the firm was registered in last year. the state temporarily deemed it inactive for failure to file required annual reports. cnn filed santos filed the required report tuesday. santos' attorney said santos represents the kind of progress that the left is so threatened by. a gay, latino immigrant and republican who won a biden district in overwhelming fashion. nassau county committee chair called the issues raised serious adding every person deserves an opportunity to cle

while a spokesperson for baruch college could not find anyone with his name or birthday ever attendingd of his work history also murky. his campaign bio mentioned stints at citigroup and goldman sachs and neither have any records of his employment. santos listed on his 2022 financial disclosure a salary of $750,000 and claimed he made the same amount last year. income he said he earned from a organization which he said is his family's firm. a search showed the firm was registered in florida last year. the state temporarily deemed it inactive for fail to file required annual reports. cnn found santos filed the report on tuesday. santos attorney said he represents the kind of progress that the left is so threatened by, a gay latino migrant and republican who won a biden district in overwhelming fashion. the nasa county chair saying it is serious, adding every person deserves an opportunity to clear his or her name in the face of accusations and i look forward to the congressman elect's responses to the news reports. >> my parents came to this country in search of the american dream. toda

santos has said he attended ny and baruch college. but the schools say they have no records of him. santos has said he worked at goldman sachs and citigroup, but the banks say they have no record of him even his animals. charity has no, i r s paper trail. if you've seen inventing anna on netflix, this is inventing jorge santos. and it's time that he did the right thing and step aside, santos has still not come forward to respond. his attorney, only issuing a statement suggesting the accusations are a political hit job, his opponents say otherwise. he's going to have to answer that question. did you perpetrate a fraud on the voters of the third congressional district and, you know some are calling for santos to resign before he's even sworn in, but analysts say it's more likely he'll face it. ethics investigation once he takes office. netflix password sharing is about to come to an end. changes are expected to start next year. more than 100 million viewers using the service are doing so with borrowed passwords . the practice grew during the height of the pandemic, netflix vowed earli

reporter: santos told "the new york post" he did not graduate from college despite claiming degrees from baruch college and nyu. i'm embarrassed and sorry, he said. we do stupid things in life. he also admitted he never worked directly for goldman sachs and citigroup, credentials he had touted on the campaign trail. >> i believe i used a poor use of words, but i did work in the industry for a number of years. >> reporter: but questions about his finances remain, including the source of $700,000 he reported to have loaned his campaign. santos also addressed scrutiny about his claims of jewish heritage. he has now deleted a portion from his campaign website where he recalled his grandparents fleeing jewish persecution during world war ii. >> i always joked, i'm catholic, but i'm also jew-ish. >> the republican jewish coalition didn't find it funny, saying, he deceived us and misrepresented his heritage. he will not be welcome at any future rjc event. nassau county republican chair joseph cairo called the lies profound and said santos has broken the public trust. >> the question really is can the

not a graduate of baruch college where officials found no record matching his name and date of birth,ich the irs says it can't find records for. george santos himself has not yet responded, but his lawyer says, quote, it is no surprise that the congressman-elect has enemies at "the times" who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations. joining me now is nbc news capitol hill correspondent ryan nobles. no one did any vetting on this guy? >> reporter: well, it's interesting you ask that question, katie. democrats actually did do a pretty lengthy bit of opposition research on george santos. the problem may have been that they focused on the wrong things. you know, a lot of what they focused on were his claims of election denialism of the 2020 election, his connections in support of the former president donald trump. they did get into the questionable, you know, questions about his financial background, the nonprofit that he supposedly ran, but they didn't really do a lot to highlight it, and there just really wasn't a lot of local media coverage surrounding t

going to baruch. lying about his kids shows you how desperate -- >> stephanie grisholm.is true because of the rant that trump went on truth social tweeted many times about this. that's a clue that this is real. >>> top democrats are putting forward a list of proposals to expand voting access the governor of minnesota joins us to weigh in on that new effort we'll be back in a moment. >>> a report this morning from europe that ukraine is striking more boldly at targets in russian territory. the latest yesterday in southern russia where three service men were killed after air defenses shot down a ukrainian drone and reportedly hit airfields in the heart of russia potentially complicating the mission some analysts say kyiv assessed that moscow's military is fighting at the limits of capabilities spurring bolder attacks. ukraine says it wants to hold a peace summit by the end of february about a year after russia invaded the country. with the goal of ending the war but without the participation of russia ukraine's foreign minister hopes it will take place at the united nation

santos has said he attended ny and baruch college. but the schools say they have no records of him. santos has said he worked at goldman sachs and citigroup, but the banks say they have no record of him even his animal. charity has no, i r s paper trail. if you've seen inventing anna on netflix, this is inventing jorge santos. and it's time that he did the right thing and step aside, santos has still not come forward to respond. his attorney, only issuing a statement suggesting the accusations are a political hit job, his opponents say otherwise be complete and utter for oil, whole life story. and he's gonna have to answer that question. did you perpetrate a fraud on the voters of the third congressional district and you know, some are calling for santos to resign even before he's sworn in, analysts say, though, it's more likely he'll face an ethics investigation once he actually takes office. coming up the bear attack at a popular zoo also ahead how a small village came together to help a family in need. we'll hear from the locals who pulled hear from the locals who pulled off some

santos told the "new york post," he did not graduate from college, despite claiming degrees from baruch n.y.u. "i'm embarrassed and sorry," he said, "we do stupid things in life." he also admitted he never worked directly for goldman sachs and citigroup, credentials he had touted on the carail. >> i believe i used a poor use of words, but i did work in the industry for a number of years. >> reporter: but questions about his finances remain, including the source of $700,000 he reported to have loaned his campaign. santos also addressed scrutiny about his claims of jewish heritage. he has now deleted a portion from his campaign website where he recalled his grandparents fleeing jewish persecution during world war ii. >> i always joke, i'm catholic, but i'm also jew... -ish. >> reporter: the republican jewish coalition didn't find it funny, saying "he deceived us and misrepresented his heritage. he will not be welcome at any future r.j.c. event." nassau county republican chair joseph cairo called the lies "profound," and said santos "has broken the public trust." >> the question is, can th

santos has already acknowledged fabricating claims about graduating from new york's baruch college andng at citigroup and goldman sachs, and is being questioned for declaring jewish heritage and being the descendant of holocaust survivors. >> i've gone through this. even i've not-- not being raised a practicing jew, i have always joked with friends in circles, even in the campaign i said, "guys, i'm jew-ish. remember, i was raised catholic." >> reporter: in contradictory social media posts he said his mother was a victim of the 9/11 attack, but later posts she died in 2016. cbs news has learned federal prosecutors in new york are now looking into santos' finances and his financial disclosures and local nassau county new york investigators are looking into santos, too. have you ever seen anything like this before? >> no. >> reporter: former house ethic committee staffer donald sherman says any false statements by santos about his campaign finances would raise legal troubles. >> there's a bigger question about whether someone else is funneling money to his campaign to facilitate his poli

face of every resident in the third congressional district and said facts do not matter >> reporter: baruchd citigroup all tell nbc news they have no record o santos despite being listed on his campaign biography. also, a tax-exempt animal rescue group he claims to run is not listed on the irs website. the times raises questions about how santos managed to lend the campaign $700,000. the paper also reports unresolved criminal charges against santos involving fraudulent checks in brazil the local gop chair calls the allegations serious and says he looks forward to santos' response democrats are now calling for a house ethics investigation >> he's got to stand up and say whether or not he has been honest and if he hasn't, he should not be seated. >> reporter: santos' attorney did not respond to specifics of "the times" report, but said in part it is no surprise that congressman-elect santos has enemies at "the new york times" who are attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations. robert zimmerman ran against him. >> a number of the issues in that article were not shockin

the bronx, working for citigroup and goldman sachs, having a degree in finance and economics from baruchmother's demographics, the new york times says, is now a federal investigation. we've confirmed, which is being run by the us attorney's office in brooklyn, focused at least on part on his financial dealings, questions remain about how mr. santos has generated enough personal wealth to be able, as campaign finance filings show, to lend his campaign 700 mark. what do you what do you make of this? should he be seated on tuesday? and the other question i have is in the campaign, why didn't zimmerman get some of this in the run against santos? so do you think it was that undercover during that campaign? >> you obviously needs to hire new opposition research people. well, look, i think santos is next move if he wants us to succeed in washington, should be to switch parties and run for president , because joe biden, if you want to go back to the list of lies that joe biden has told about his career, going back to the neocons, and now you talk about his coalminer family talking about getting

the new york times had previously questioned his claims about graduating from baruch college and workingsachs and city corp. my old job. turns out he never worked with any of those companies and he never graduated from any college. and his claim for beating simone biles for gymnastics medal are looking kind of shaky. believe it or not he's still not done, santos also lied about owning 13 different properties. why not 14? when in fact he owned none and is currently living at his sister's place plus he's never been at baltic avenue or passed go and never collected $200. he's lied as many times as gutfeld has said he's five feet. the time also alleged santos may have had criminal charges filed against him in brazil. not brazil. he left that off his resume. the one thing that sounded kind of cool. but the new york politician insisted he's not a criminal when help said, quote, i'm not a criminal. i'm sold. but i wonder, george, are you not good at making excuses for this? >> i'm not going to make excuses for this but a lot of people overstate in their resumes or twist a little bit or engrand

. >> in an interview with the "new york post," santos said he fabricated graduating with baruch collegeics and finance. he said he worked for citigroup and goldman sachs. santos said he works for another company that did work for the two financial firms. he blamed the confusion on not clearly describing the rip. relationship. >> i believe i used a poor use of words i did work in the industry for a number of years. he said the "new york times" accusation that he was charged for fraud in beafl for using a stolen checkbook is not true. >> i'm not a criminal i committed absolutely no crimes. >> santos clarified his religion. during the campaign he presented himself as jewish but now says that's not true. >> i'm catholic but i'm also jew-ish. and i have made that joke because growing up i grew up fully aware that my grandparents were jewish. >> the republican jewish coalition has weighed in and says santos will no longer be invited to their events incoming republican congressman is now calling for an house ethics investigation. some democrats want santos to resign. he says he will not step d

but when we reached out to baruch, they checked the records for george santos with his birthday graduatingind a match. goldman sachs saying they can find no record he worked there and citigroup can't either. on his website he claims to have founded an animal rescue nonprofit that saved thousands of dogs and cats but abc could find no irs record of a nonprofit with that name and this morning, an attorney for santos insisting reporters are trying to, quote, smear his good name with these defamatory allegations. so the big question, what happens now? republicans in new york say that this report raises serious concerns, but republicans here on capitol hill, including leader kevin mccarthy, have been notably silent. santos did help republicans clinch a narrow majority in the house and mccarthy is working to get the votes that he needs to become the next speaker. rebecca? >> all right, rachel, thank you. >>> now we turn to new details on the severe turbulence that sent more than a dozen people to the hospital after a flight from phoenix to honolulu. an investigation is now under way as millions

fabricated his claims that he'd worked for goldman sachs and citigroup and that he'd earned a degree from baruchollege. santos also spoke with new york radio station wabc. >> i am not a fraud. i am not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this petition character and ran for congress. i have been around a long time. a lot of people know me. they have had business dealings with me. i am not making excuses for that, but a lot of people overstate the resumes or twist a little bit. i am not saying i'm not guilty of that. amy: he also said he falsely claimed his grandparents fled the holocaust. he said -- texas democratic representative joaquin castro responded that congress should expel george santos if he refuses to resign and called on authorities to investigate him. castro added -- "just about every aspect of his life appears to be a lie. we've seen people fudge their resume but this is a total fabrication." and thosare somef the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, the taliban has issued an order barring women from wo

well, he didn't graduate from baruch college or nyu, he didn't work for citigroup or goldman sachs. the "new york post" which got the first interview with santos and is owned by rupert murdoch also called santos a liar. in subsequent interviews, he defended hiactions by saying everyone embellishes their resume >> i'm not a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fick titianal resume a lot of people twist or ingrandiate themselves i have done so much good work in my career. >> that's not all he admitted to lying about. last month, santos, who is gay, claimed in an interview with the wnyc public radio, quote, we lost four employees that were at pulse nightclub. the horrific shooting at the gay nightclub in orlando, florida. this week, he changed his tune >> did anyone who worked for you perish in the pulse nightclub shooting >> that worked for me directly no >> that's just scratching the surface of what he was not honest about but despite all of that, the congressman-elect remains defiant. in one of those interviews, he said i will be sworn in, i will take office. o

that he never attended any college or university after previously claiming he received degrees from baruch college and nyu. he's saying he's embarrassed and that he was embellishing his resume and he says he is not guilty of any crimes. everybody are does it. >> i am not a criminal. not here. not fraud, any jurisdiction in the world have i ever committed any crimes. to get down to the nitty-gritty, i'm he not a fraud. i'm not a criminal who defrauded the entire company and made up this if i can tischion nal character and ran for congress. i've been around a long time. i'm not going to make excuses. a lot of people over state their resumes or twist a little bit. i'm not saying i'm not guilty of that. >> santos did not-make up claims about his heritage and financial disclosure. so there is still a lot unanswered for. he is going to face calls to not serve in congress. it will be difficult not to face the music. >>> u.s. supreme court could rule this week on whether to keep the title 42 in place. the policy which allowed border officials to quickly expel migrants due to covid was due to end l

originally he said he grudded from baruch college in nyu and now he said he didn't graduate from anyclaimed to have worked at goldman sachs and citigroup and he was neither employ and he said he owned 13 properties and now he admits that he's not a landlord. now the excuse. santos said he did what plenny of others do to get a job. just fib about his resume. >> i'm not a criminal. not here, not abroad, in any jurisdiction in the world have i ever committed any crimes. to get down to the knit and gritty. >> i'm not a fraud. i'm not going to make excuses for this, but a lot of people overstate in their resumes or twist a little bit or ingratiate themselves, i'm not saying i'm not guilty of that. >> joining us in eva mckend and camilla dechalis of "the washington post". eva, i don't know where to begin. he's probably not a criminal, but he's saying he's not a fraud. >> that is right. he has been pretty defiant here. he is conceding somewhat tepidly that the work history and the education history is false. he said it is embellished. but it is false. to be clear, he indicates that he's ver

santos' biography says he went to baruch college and new york university earning degrees in finance andcs. representatives for both schools told cnn they had no record of anyone with his name ever attending. his campaign biography said santos worked at citigroup and goldman sachs. they have no record of his employment. santos claimed he founded his own charity, friends of pets united. but -- >> one of the first things i did was look for some of the filings because he was very specific about being it 501(c)3. and we weren't able to find that with the irs. >> reporter: there was no group of that charity group found in the database, nor among registered charities in new york and florida. cnn has asked santos for comment, but he has not responded. his attorney told cnn the "new york times" was attempting to, quote, smear santos with, quote, defamatory allegations. his opponent robert zimmerman said his campaign knew about some of these discrepancies. asked today by cnn whether his campaign was raising concerns loudly enough. >> we spoke to many reporters on these issues and raised these con

criminal charges for check fraud in brazil at a time when he'd claimed to be attending classes at baruch college, which has no enrollment records for santos. and santos falsely claimed that his company lost four employees at the pulse nightclub shooting in orlando in june 2016. in november, santos made history as the first openly gay republican to win a house seat as a non-incumbent, representing a district in long island and queens that previously favored democrats. house republican leader kevin mccarthy has yet to comment on "the times'" investigation. many house democrats are calling on mccarthy to block santos from being seated when the 118th congress is sworn in next month. and in los angeles, harvey weinstein has been convicted on additional three charges of rape and sexual assault. the convictions were related to one survivor, an italian model identified only as jane doe #1 who testified weinstein raped her in a hotel room in 2013. the jury acquitted weinstein of one charge and were deadlocked on three charges involving two other survivors -- jennifer siebel newsom, the first part

but every time he opens his mouth, he didn't really go to baruch college, and this and that, it makes it easier for prosecutors to prosecute him. you lie about all this stuff. it's clear you intended to lie on that government form. it's clear you intended to launder money through those corporations to your campaign. once a liar, always a liar. >> less than a minute, dave, but i did want to ask you about that $700,000. that's one of the biggest questions that remained unanswers, santos needing to explain the exact sourcing of that money. how would prosecutors go about -- what would be the approach looking into that money? >> yeah, it's tough because a lot of this money is funneled through dark channels, but this is money that was supposedly coming from his corporation to his actual campaign. so you try to get a hold of who your clients are, how the corporation got money. you go through the irs. you track it down. this is so suspicious. he gave thank yous of dollars from his company to other campaigns blake masters got $2,000. kristi noem, governor of south dakota, got $1,000 from this

he said he had degrees from baruch college in new york and an mba from nyu and had worked at citi groupsantos has not provided any. in fact, cnn's reporting shows there are indications that both of his parents -- grandparents were born in brazil, not ukraine. these are issues that raise a legal and ethical question and some are calling for an investigation. dan goldman who is a congressman-elect, another incoming congressman in new york wants the eastern district to new york to investigate santos for at least two potential federal crimes, conspiracy to defraud the united states by spreading false information, disinformation and filing false at the same times to the federal election commission. goldman said that the republican party leadership needs to respond to this and say whether they think santos is fit to join their caucus. kevin mccarthy so far has not given any response. >> no response from republican house leadership. athena jones, thanks so much for that reporting. >>> i want to bring in molly ball, national political correspondent for "time." always great to see you and have y

george santos claimed he received degrees from baruch college and new york university, but both schoolsnable to find records of anyone with his name ever attending. also according to his website, he worked at citi group and goldman sachs. both firms tell cnn that they have no record of his employment. and he claims to have founded a nonprofit animal rescue operation, but the group does not exist in the irs's searchable database or among registered charities in new york or florida. an attorney for santos is calling this a smear. so joining us now, robert zimmermann who was defeated by santos in the midterms. we're so glad that you are here. thank you. there's a lot -- >> good to be with you, don. >> thank you so much. a lot of questions about santos, okay? but there is a question that everyone has for your campaign, did your team not know about this, his bio didn't check out? why weren't you raising concerns to the high heavens about this? >> of course we knew about it, don, and most people aren't even asking the question because we spoke to many reporters on these issues and raised thes

like that degree from baruch college. he didn't do there didn't graduate from anywhere.rking at goldman sachs and citigroup? didn't work there. what about the claims of being jewish he's catholic. santos telling the post he's embarrassed he never graduated from college and that it was a poor choice of words to say he worked at those wall street firms and that it was obvious he's clearly catholic and never claimed to be jewish only jew-ish and despite that fraudulent resume, he insists he's not a fraud. ryan riley is following this one for us that's not even all of the things he apparently and now acknowledges not telling the truth about when he was on the campaign trial, but it changes nothing about his intention to get sworn in as a member of congress next week >> that's right. i think you'd need the whole rest of the hour to go through everything people brought up here the way i think "the new york times" framed this is that he's trying to create the appearance of coming clean and i think that's what we see here. he's admitting the stuff that's over the top obvious cle

criminal charges for check fraud in brazil at a time when he'd claimed to be attending classes at baruchch has no records for santos. among many other issues. it is particularly significant given the very close breakdown of republicans and democrats in the house. the significance of all of this coming out right now? that people don't really have any idea who this man is, but mccarthy not wanting to call them out because he is running for house speaker and he is afraid he will loose on on the right if he goes after a new congressmember. >> absolutely, amy. the lack of courage from the republican party never ceases to amaze me. but what is really dgerous about this congressman-elect, there seems to be nothing factual about his biogphy. all the way down to lying about his jewish a catholic heritage and alleged grandparents being survivors of the holocaust. even t addssee as listed o his filing, when they call tt number, the woman who picked up had no knowledge of who this person was and that he had never even lived there. the democrats in new york do need -- amy: and hwas there onanuary 6,

college or university even though he previously claims he earned degrees from new york university and baruch. that he admitted was false. he said a lot of people embellish their resumes or sort of twist their words and i'm guilty of that. but making it seem like it's not a big deal. he also did not address a number of other questions that were raised by the "new york times" and other publications including questions about his charities, questions about his heritage and claims that he made about his heritage. he also has questions raised about his financial disclosure reports and whether he filed all the proper protocols in terms of disclosing his finances. i don't think this is going to staunch the bleeding or quell the calls for him to not serve in congress. and so far gop leaders are silent, but i suspect that will be very difficult when they return to congress next week. >> is there any explanation as to why? or was he just saying it's not a big deal? >> well, he did say it's not a big deal and he also said he felt embarrassed and perhaps felt pressure to embellish his resume. but he is a

the congressman-elect claims he received degrees from nyu and baruch college. he now says he did not. but he maintains he is not a criminal and still intends to serve in congress. >> i'm not resigning. i have to leave congress, it's going to be by a pink slip by the voters november of 2024. >> reporter: and then there are the questions surrounding his alleged jewish heritage. >> we're no stranger to persecution. my grandfather fleeing ukraine in 1920s to belgium, then fleeing belgium to brazil in 1940. >> reporter: those claims were contradicted by family trees compiled by genealogy websites, records on jewish refugees, and interviews with multiple genealogists. one professional genealogist who spoke with cnn said there is no sign of jewish and/or ukrainian heritage, and no indication of name changes along the way. santos now saying he never claimed to be jewish. >> i always joked i'm catholic, but i'm also jew-ish, as in ish. and i've made that joke because growing up, i grew up fully aware that my grandparents were jewish. >> reporter: but cnn learning that s

he does not have a college degree, he said that he graduated from baruch and nyu.nealogy records that contradict this claim that he is of jewish heritage and that his grandparents survived the holocaust. the irs has no record of a registered charity that he said that he long operated. so it just goes on and on and on. >> yeah, look at that list. i mean, that's not embellishment. those are just lies and false claims about very serious things. it's not just the once you pointed out, he also talked about this discrepancy that he gave regarding the pulse nightclub shooting. >> this is particularly troubling because this extends beyond a personal biography. he says that he -- employees of his, he formerly said the four of them were victims in this terrible pulse massacre that we all of course remember in this country, a deeply sad event. well, he is now sort of through this word soup salad in this radio interview saying that that is actually not the case. take a listen. >> did anyone who worked for you perish in the pulse nightclub shooting? >> that worked for me direct

from any college or university, after previously claiming he received degrees before both nyu and baruch's embarrassed, suggested it's not uncommon to lie on a resume trying to downplay the severity of an incoming member of congress caught in so many lies, but kaitlan, he maintains he's not a criminal and still intends to serve in congress. >> what about the claim, though, that he said he lost employees during the pulse nightclub shooting? >> reporter: kaitlan, this, too, appearing to have been a lie and this is significant. this is not just about a personal biography, a deeply tragic event that occurred in this country and now says the victims of that shooting never worked for him. take a listen. >> did anyone who worked for you perish in the pulse nightclub shooting. >> that worked for me directly, no, but we did have people who were hired to work for the company at the time who during ---i was in florida during the pulse nightclub shooting. at another nightclub that evening not too far away but, yes, we did lose four people who would be coming to work for the company in orlando. >> no

santos says he grass waited from baruch college in 2010.mes" to kind a record with anyone of that 234 graduating that year. worked at goldman and sachs and they have no record of him working for. that's not all. a previous version of his website says he ran a nonprofit called pets of friends eyed 2013 to 2018 able to effectively rescue dogs, cats and according to the irs were not able to find any records showing that the group held the tax-exempt status mr. santos claimed. the "times" report did not respond to repeated requests to provide documents while campaigning. his attorneys said attempting to smear the congress ran with defamatory allegations. joining us, michael gold from the "new york times" who broke the story along his colleague grace ashberg. this is -- totally rocked the political world. i wonder how this started? what made you look into and kind of try to double check some of the things that seemingly people would not typically lie about? >> sure. i think after the elections in november we in new york were just curious about w

admitted he never graduated from any college despite previously claiming to have received a degree from baruch't graduate there first alert any institution of higher learning i'm embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resumÉ i own up to that we do stupid things in life. santos was also accused of lying about hisfamily history saying on his campaign website that his mother was jewish and his grandparents escaped the nazis during world war ii. quote, i never claimed to be jewish, santos said, i am catholic because i learned my maternal family had a jewish background i said i was jewish. his resumÉ was called into question when a "new york times" article pointed out inconsistencies in his official biography. at the time his lawyer called the "times" article defamatory he flipped a blue district that helped deliver the gop house majority republican leaders backed him including kevin mccarthy and elise stefanik have not commented on the controversy nbc news hay attempted to reach santos overnight but did not immediately hear back. >>> local and federal law enforcement are investigating a s

among those misrepresentations, while, claiming he got degrees at baruch college and nyu.ools tell cnn their records don't reflect him ever attending either. santos also claiming he had stints at citi group and goldman sachs. but neither bank has records of his employment. he has not personally yet responded to the allegations. however, his attorney putting out a statement, writing, quote, santos represents the kind of progress that the left is so threatened by. a gate latino immigrant and republican who won a biden district in a overwhelming fashion by showing every day voters there is a better option than the broken promises and failed policies of the democratic party, unquote. now, some democrats are demanding answers and even calling for investigations into the incoming freshman congressman. i want to bring in new york state democratic chair jay jacobs. welcome to the show. i have a lot of questions about this entire story. of course, it really has been stunning to so many people. jay, i wonder initially, one of the people that comes to mind, just in your title in the

. >> reporter: santos previously said he earned degree from baruch college and nyu but now admits he. santos also claimed he worked directly for financial firms goldman sachs and citigroup but now says his company did consulting work for them. >> i didn't outright lie about my work experience. actually, i'm fairly well rounded in the financial markets and capital markets. >> reporter: the congressman-elect also under fire for what one prominent jewish group described as misrepresenting his heritage, claiming that he was jewish as recently as last month appearing before the republican jewish coalition soon after the election. >> good morning. >> reporter: republican leader kevin mccarthy even touting santos' victory at the same conference. >> at max millner ohio, george santos in new york and david from tennessee get reelected. do you realize we have the largest republican jewish caucus in more than 24 years. not bad, huh? >> reporter: at one point, santos claimed his grandparents survived the holocaust. those claims have been contradicted by multiple genealogists and a review of reco

like that he graduated from baruch college, that he worked at goldman sachs and citigroup, and that hiscnn's k-file uncovers even more lies that santos has spread like his parents sending him to an elite prep school. >> -- in the bronx. and in my senior year of prep school, unfortunately my parents fell on hard times. anyway, i left school four months to graduation. >> um, except a spokesman for the school says there is absolutely no evidence he ever attended that school. and here's another claim santos made to push his alleged jewish heritage. >> for a lot of people who are descendants of world war ii refugees or survivors of the holocaust, a lot of names and paperwork were changed in the name of survival so i don't carry the family's last name. i carry my mother's maiden name, which is the dutch side of the family. >> except that no records exist at all to back this up. "outfront" now, eva mckend. the nassau county d.a. oversees a large portion of the district that just elected santos. what is she saying about all this? >> reporter: the probes of santos' many fabrications appear to be

the comeman-elect claimed he received degrees from nyu and baruch college. he now says he did not.'s not a criminal, and still intends to serve in congress. >> i'm not resigning. i have to leave congress, it's going to be by a pink slip by the voters november of 2024. >> reporter: and then there are the questions surrounding his alleged jewish heritage. >> we're no stranger to persecution. my grandfather fleeing ukraine in the 1920s to belgium, then fleeing belgium to brazil in 1940. >> reporter: records on jewish refugees and interviews with multiple genealogists. santos now saying he never claimed to be jewish. >> i always joke, i'm catholic, but i'm also n "ish." i grew up fully aware that my grandparents were jewish. >> reporter: cnn learning that santos described himself as a proud american jew in a document he shared with prom innocent jewish groups. santos now drawing the ire of the republican jewish coalition, who says they were deceived. santos will no longer be welcome at rjc events. >> i'm not a fraud. i'm not a cartoon character. i'm not some mythical creature that was

santos has said that he received degreeses from baruch andp nyu, cnn has reached out and neither schooln bio also mentioned working at both citigroup and goldman sachs. neither firm has record of that and he claimed that he founded a nonprofit animal rescue called friends of pet united but the operation is not found in the irs searchable data base and that is just some of it. joining me now is grace achford with "the new york times" who broke the story. thanks for coming on. what got you asking these questions about his background, that kind of led you down this path? >> hi, kate. thank you so much for having me. this all started shortly after the election. my colleague michael gold and i were assigned to write what we thought would be a quick piece on this new congressman from long island who is drawing a lot of attention. he flipped what had been a blue district red but he was also sort of this new model of perhaps what the gop could be in the future. he's only 34 years old, he's latino and he's gay. which was all very, very interesting. and so as we started to look into him, he looke

for example, santos claimed that he attended baruch college and nyu, but neither school has a record of his attendance. santos also lied about his work history, as well as making several false claims about his personal life. he said he was a quote unquote, proud, only to backtrack and say he was jewish. >> now on twitter, santos also claimed that his mother had died on 9/11, quote, 9/11 claimed my mother's life. he wrote . but a few months later on twitter, santos wrote that his mother had died in 2016. on tuesday, i spoke directly to santos to try to better understand his side of the story. here's part of our conversation. my question is , do you have no shame? do you have no shame? and the people who are now you're asking to trust you to go and be their voice for them, their families and their kids in washington policy. >> i say the same thing about the democrats and the party. look at joe biden. joe biden's been lying to the american people for 40 years. he's the president of the united states . democrats resoundingly support him. do they have no shame? >> look, this just made thi

he didn't graduate from baruch college or go to nyu. he didn't go to college at all. his parents are not holocaust survivors, he is not jush. he never ran an annimal nonprofit. he did not leave horace mann because he never went there to begin with. he was charged with embezzlement in brazil as cnn learned for forging an elderly man's signature on checks that were not his. i think you wouldn't want this person to be a lawmaker in your country's capitol but he is going to be, so now what? >> well, now what? there are a couple different possibilities. one is that he does get seated and he serves and if the law catches up with him then and possibly only then would his fellow members of congress decide to take action against him. the last member of congress to be kicked out was after he was convicted on ten federal fraud charges. you can be under quite a cloud and still exist in congress. ask matt gaetz about that. any number of members are being investigated at any time facing very serious charges. that is one distinct possibility, that the lies that this man has told and

santos has already acknowledged fabricating claims about graduating from new york's baruch college andp and goldman sachs, and is being questioned for declaring jewish heritage and being the descendant of holocaust survivors. >> i've gone through. even i've -- not being raised a practicing jew, i've always joked with friends in circles, even with -- in the campaign, i'd say, guys, i'm jew-ish. remember, i was raised catholic. >> reporter: in contradictory social media posts allegedly made by santos, he says his mother was a victim of the 9/11 attack but later posts she died in 2016. cbs news has learned federal prosecutors in new york are now looking into santos' finances and his financial disclosures and that local nassau county investigators are looking into santos too. former house ethics committee staffer donald sherman says any false statements by santos about his campaign finances would raise legal troubles. >> there's a bigger question about whether someone else is funneling money to his campaign to facilitate his political rise. >> scott macfarlane joins us now from capitol hil