New York Congressman George Santos woke up to another piece of bad news last week.
Police said on Friday that his local district office in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of Long Island and Queens, was vandalised with graffiti which used expletives in multiple languages to describe the scandal-ridden Republican.
“George Santos is [s***]”, the scrawling reportedly read in three languages — Mandarin, Greek, and Spanish.
The congressman confirmed the graffitiying in a statement to CNBC.
“This act of cowardly behavior is beyond unacceptable and compromises the safety of my staff as well as my constituents,” wrote the congressman.
“My staff should never have to worry about entering the workplace, nor constituents who require federal assistance. A report was filed with the NYPD 111th Precinct, and I encourage anyone who may have information to contact them directly,” he continued. “I would like to personally thank the NYPD for their commitment to public safety, and for keeping my district staff safe.”
It’s just the latest indication that Mr Santos faces a reckoning back home after being caught telling a cascade of lies about his background and experience. Among the more offensive claims was one insisting that his grandparents had survived the Holocaust. Despite his freshman status, his appearances on Capitol Hill are often accompanied by a veritable sea of journalists asking him to comment on the latest revelations regarding his dishonesty and checkered past.
Mr Santos had also falsely claimed that he was a producer of Broadway’s Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark musical. Mr Santos was recently accused of sexual harassment by a would-be aide in his congressional ofice.
Polls of Mr Santos’s district have shown that a majority of both Democrats and Republicans want the first-term congressman out, but he has resolved to stay in office for two years even as he was forced to resign his committee assignments under a barrage of pressure.
A number of New York politicians including members of both parties have called on him to resign; the list includes the Nassau County Republican Party, the largest GOP organisation active in Mr Santos’s home district.
