NEW YORK — The Democratic candidate who lost a Long Island congressional seat to Rep.-elect George Santos says the incoming GOP lawmaker should face major investigations over shocking reports he faked big chunks of his résumé.
Robert Zimmerman, who lost the blue-leaning 3rd District seat to Santos in an upset, also fended off sniping from fellow Democrats that he should have uncovered the embarrassing gaping holes in his opponent’s bio.
“The only finger-pointing should be at George Santos,” Zimmerman said on CNN Tuesday. “There has to be an ethics investigation and a Department of Justice investigation.”
Zimmerman said in a statement that Santos should resign before he even officially takes office after Jan. 1.
A bombshell report Monday in The New York Times said major chunks of Santos’ résumé appear to be false, including years of employment, education and charity work.
Santos, 34, who says he is a trailblazing gay Republican and immigrant from Brazil, is trashing the report — but isn’t actually denying the accusations.
A lawyer for Santos called the reports a partisan “smear,” but didn’t dispute the claims that Santos apparently concocted working at major investment firms and attending Baruch College, among other discrepancies.
“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,” said Joseph Murray, the lawyer.
Murray suggested that it’s a badge of honor for Santos to be taken to the woodshed by “enemies,” although he muddled a quote to that effect.
“It means that you’ve stood up for something,” Murray said, incorrectly attributing the credo to Winston Churchill when it was actually said by French author Victor Hugo.
Rep.-elect Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., a former prosecutor, said Tuesday that Brooklyn federal prosecutors should probe Santos for lying to the Federal Election Commission and defrauding the U.S.
Incoming Democratic House leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., derided Santos as “unfit for service.”
State Democratic chief Jay Jacobs, who has become a lightning rod for criticism over the party’s poor performance in the midterms, called for Santos to not be seated in the new Congress until the questions have been resolved.
Santos beat Zimmerman by 8% to win the district that includes much of the North Shore of Long Island and a chunk of eastern Queens.
The seat was previously held by Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., who skipped a reelection bid to mount a long-shot Democratic primary bid against Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Republicans swept all four seats on Long Island, including two previously held by Democrats, and flipped three Democratic seats in the northern suburbs and upstate.
The Empire State debacle effectively cost Democrats a chance of keeping the House and marked a major blemish on the party’s overall unexpectedly strong performance in the midterms.
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