U.S. Congressman-elect George Santos admits to lying about college education, career

WASHINGTON, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Congressman-elect George Santos has admitted to lying about his educational history and professional biography.

"My sins here are embellishing my resume," Santos, elected in the 2022 midterm elections to represent New York's 3rd congressional district, told The New York Post on Monday.

Last week, The New York Times called into question the life story that the 34-year-old Republican had presented during his campaign.

Santos acknowledged that he didn't graduate from any college or university, despite previous claims that he received degrees from Baruch College and New York University.

"I didn't graduate from any institution of higher learning," he told The Post. "I'm embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume."

Santos had also said that he had worked for high-profile Wall Street firms Citigroup and Goldman Sachs but neither company could find any records verifying that, according to The Times.

Confessing that he had "never worked directly" for either of the companies, Santos argued that it was a "poor choice of words" to say he worked for them.

He told The Post that Link Bridge, a company where he was a vice-president, did business with both of the financial giants.

An openly gay person and son of Brazilian immigrants, Santos first ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020 but lost to the Democratic incumbent. He won this year's elections and will join the House majority in a new, divided Congress that will be sworn in next week.