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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
Politics
Joseph Wilkinson

George Santos lied about his mom being in the South Tower on 9/11, records show

Another day, another lie for Rep. George Santos.

Santos, R-N.Y., has claimed his mother was at the World Trade Center when it was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001 — but immigration records show that day she was really in Brazil.

On his campaign website, Santos claimed his mother, Fatima Devolder, “was in her office in the South Tower on September 11, 2001, when the horrific events of that day unfolded.”

In Santos’ telling, his mom “survived the tragic events on September 11th, but she passed away a few years later when she lost her battle to cancer.” Devolder died from cancer in 2016.

Devolder’s cancer was not caused by toxic conditions at Ground Zero, according to immigration records shown to The Washington Post.

Devolder left the U.S. in 1999 and did not return until 2003, the Post reported, citing immigration documents obtained by accountant and genealogical researcher Alex Calzareth through a FOIA request.

Calzareth is from Nassau County, but not Santos’ district, according to NBC News.

Santos represents New York’s 3rd District, which stretches from eastern Queens onto Long Island.

He was seated in Congress despite lying about numerous items on his resume, from his college career to his family history to his religion.

Santos, 34, has recently fought allegations that he put on a fake Jewish-sounding name when calling Jewish people for donations to a fake charity and that he stole $3,000 from a homeless military veteran.

Santos has refused to resign despite calls from both sides of the aisle. He supported the bid of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to become House speaker. McCarthy assigned Santos to the House committees on science and small business.

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