DA Launches Investigation into Rep.-Elect George Santos for Fabrications She Calls 'Nothing Short of Stunning'
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Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty George Santos
Rep.-elect George Santos is under investigation after admitting to fabricating details of his past, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office announced Wednesday.
"The numerous fabrications and inconsistencies associated with Congressman-Elect Santos are nothing short of stunning," Nassau District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement provided to PEOPLE.
"The residents of Nassau County and other parts of the third district must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress," she continued. "No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it."
A spokesperson for Donnelly echoes to PEOPLE that the DA's office is "looking into the matter."
Santos came under fire earlier this month after The New York Times reported that a large portion of the New York Republican's biography could not be substantiated, alleging that he misled voters about his level of education, previous jobs and family ties to the Holocaust, earning bipartisan condemnation in recent days for misrepresenting himself.
In an interview with the New York Post on Monday, the incoming congressman admitted he lied about working at Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, as he had previously asserted, and revealed that he had also embellished his education, noting that he did not attend Baruch College or New York University.
"I didn't graduate from any institution of higher learning," he said on Monday to the Post. "I'm embarrassed and sorry for having embellished my resume. I own up to that ... we do stupid things in life."
Sipa via AP Images George Santos
On Monday, Santos — who spoke at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual meeting last month — also denied that he had previously claimed he was Jewish.
"I never claimed to be Jewish," Santos told the New York Post. "I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background I said I was 'Jew-ish.'"
RELATED: New Report Casts Doubt on Rep.-Elect George Santos' Past Assertions About Being Jewish
Until last week, Santos' website read: "George's grandparents fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine, settled in Belgium, and again fled persecution during WWII."
The Jewish American newspaper Forward first called Santos' heritage into question after analyzing genealogical data which seemingly showed that both of the New York representative-elect's maternal grandparents were born in Brazil before World War II.
Ronda Churchill/Bloomberg via Getty George Santos
In addition to his education, work experience and religion, the New York Times flagged other parts of his past.
In a followup report on Dec. 23, the outlet uncovered that he was a call center employee for Dish Network in 2012, and that his family frequently struggled to pay rent in Queens over the years, borrowed thousands of dollars from an acquaintance who claimed they were never repaid, and had a criminal history in Brazil that had never been resolved.
According to the Times, Brazilian court records show that Santos had been charged with fraud at one point after writing hot checks. The publication also reported that he confessed to the crime and was charged but authorities were later "unable to locate him" for punishment.
"I am not a criminal here — not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world," Santos told The Post on Monday. "Absolutely not. That didn't happen."
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Santos, who is the first openly gay Republican to win a House seat as a non-incumbent, also admitted he had been married to a woman in the past — something else that he had previously not disclosed.
Public divorce records show that his marriage ended around the time that he first entered a congressional race, though by the time he had declared candidacy, he had labeled himself a proud gay man who said he's "never had an issue with my sexual identity in the past decade."
In his response to recent accusations of lying to the public, he also addressed his sexuality, telling the Post, "I dated women in the past. I married a woman. It's personal stuff," adding that he was "Okay with my sexuality. People change."
RELATED VIDEO: Incoming Rep. George Santos, Who Flipped a House Seat Red, Made Unsubstantiated Claims About His Past: Report
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who is the incoming House Democratic leader, chimed in before Santos commented on the numerous allegations, calling the incoming representative a "complete and utter fraud."
A handful of Democrats have called for Santos' resignation in recent days — or for House Republicans to expel him if he refuses to resign before he is sworn in on Jan. 3. And on an episode of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard grilled Santos for the "blatant lies" he told New Yorkers, asking him, "Do you have no shame?"
