New York (AFP) - A Republican elected to Congress in November is facing calls to quit before he even takes office following allegations that he made up large parts of his CV.
George Santos's victory in a New York district last month helped his party retake the House of Representatives -- Congress's lower chamber -- with a slim majority.
The 34-year-old openly gay candidate and son of Brazilian immigrants took a seat from the Democrats as the Republicans triumphed overall with 222 elected representatives in the House to 213 for their rivals.
But a New York Times investigation has cast doubt on key parts of his resume that he trumpeted on the campaign trail.
Santos claimed to have graduated from Baruch College in New York City in 2010 before working at Citigroup and, eventually, Goldman Sachs.
A spokesperson for Baruch confirmed to AFP the Times's report that the college had no record of Santos graduating that year.
"Baruch College checked its records for a George Santos, born on July 22, 1988, with a graduation year of 2010, and could not find a match," the spokesperson said.
The Times also reported that representatives from Citigroup and Goldman Sachs could not find any records detailing his employment at the banks.
The newspaper added that there was "little evidence" that his animal rescue group Friends of Pets United, was, as Santos claimed, a tax-exempt organization.
The Times also described his company, the Devolder Organization, as "something of a mystery." It has no public website or LinkedIn page, the paper noted.
Santos disclosed to the House of Representatives in September that the company paid him a salary of $750,000 and dividends of more than $1 million.
The paper noted that the "disclosure form did not provide information about clients that would have contributed to such a haul -- a seeming violation of the requirement to disclose any compensation in excess of $5,000 from a single source."
"The reality is Santos flat-out lied to the voters" of his district, said his Democratic opponent Robert Zimmerman.
"He's violated the public trust in order to win office and does not deserve to represent Long Island and Queens," Zimmerman wrote on Twitter.
The Democrat said that Santos was "unfit for public office and should resign," adding that he should be investigated by the House's ethics committee and the federal elections commission.
On Monday, Santos posted a short statement from his lawyer on Twitter that called the Times article a "shotgun blast of attacks."
It accused the left-leaning paper of "attempting to smear his good name with these defamatory allegations."
