The News
Congressman-elect George Santos, R-NY, who is accused of faking just about every single aspect of his biography, said on Twitter he had a “story to tell” and would clear things up “next week.”
We will no doubt be taking a break from our holiday celebrations to tune in, after a series of revelations — beginning in The New York Times and continuing in the Forward and Daily Beast — that Santos may not, as he claimed, be a successful businessman, a college graduate, a grandchild of Holocaust survivors, or even married to his husband.
In the meantime, though, we did find at least some partial corroboration for a murky part of his life story: His marriage.
George Santos does have a husband, sources say, or at least a partner.
“I’ve known his husband for several years and have interacted with him on a few social occasions and at political events,” Charles Moran, president of the Log Cabin Republicans, told Semafor. “That said, the current story is about George, not his spouse, so I don’t really know why any of this is relevant.
The Daily Beast failed to find a marriage license for their union, sparking a round of speculation about whether Santos — who the outlet also reported had not disclosed a 2019 divorce to a woman — had invented his current marriage, especially given a dearth of photos on social media or references to the wedding online.
Santos did not respond to a text message from Semafor asking whether his marriage was officially registered in any state.
A political researcher who had looked into Santos referred Semafor to social media accounts purportedly associated with his spouse (one of which shows him and Santos together in the Capitol and references their marriage). A profile in a Portuguese-language outlet in 2020 identified his partner as a 24-year old pharmacist born in Brazil and noted their wedding had been delayed by the pandemic.
Santos brought up his husband on Twitter on Sunday in an exchange with Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu, D-Calif. over House Republican opposition to gay marriage. He previously claimed that his then-fiancé was threatened with termination from jobs twice during the pandemic — first for appearing maskless at Mar a Lago, then for refusing to obey a vaccine mandate due to allergies. Semafor has not independently verified either claim.
Kadia Goba contributed to this story