By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
New York Attorney General Letitia James said her office will be “looking into” a series of alleged untruths made by Rep.-Elect George Santos. As reported by the NY Post, James’ probe of Santos may pose a conflict of interest, as James received a donation from his 2022 opponent.
Santos,34, will succeed Tom Suozzi on Jan. 3rd, as the newly elected Republican congressman representing NY’s 3rd district, which includes part of northern Long Island and northeast Queens. The newbie congressman has come under heavy fire for allegedly telling some untruths and admittedly fabricating parts of his personal and professional resume. As of late December 2022, he is being investigated by federal, state, and county authorities. James, a Democrat who won re-election this year, is representing the state’s probe. This is despite the fact that records show she took $1,000 in campaign cash in December 2020 from Ze Creative Communications, which is owned by communications professional Robert Zimmerman, the Dem who faced off against Santos in the November midterms election in Long Island.
“Sounds like a conflict of interest to me,” said Robert Straniere, a former state assemblyman from Staten Island. “I think [James] is highly partisan, ”Straniere added. “She did her best to take Andrew Cuomo down … anticipating that she would be a formidable candidate for governor herself.”
As per the Post, James and Zimmerman continued close ties in 2022. James had made a special guest appearance when Zimmerman opened a new campaign office in Plainview, L.I. Further, the two had marched together at a Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade, and Zimmerman had uploaded pictures of them posing together on his Facebook page.
Critics say James should excuse herself from the case in light of her purported allegiance with Santos’s rival. “She should step aside and recuse herself,” said Curtis Sliwa, who had run for NYC mayor under the GOP ticket. “I would say Tish you refused to debate when you ran for Attorney General — the only who refused — and now you want to jump into this because it’s the limelight. It’s the first time she’s jumping into anything not named Trump. Step aside.”
For his part, Santos is accused of publicizing untruths in his biography including fabricated claims about his ancestry, education, employment, sexual orientation, charity work, and property ownership. Santos has admitted to the Post that he falsified details of his background. “I am not a criminal,” Santos told The Post in the exclusive interview. “This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”
Since then, more questions have been posed about numerous expenditures listed in Santos’ campaign financial forms filed with the Federal Election Commission. “Frankly, he’s got to take some huge steps if he wants to regain trust and respect in his district,” Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said on “Fox News Sunday”. Santos is also being probed by Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly and Federal Prosecutors in NY’s Eastern District.
Reps for James did not respond to the Posts’ request for comment.
