Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was exposed in yet another lie this week, after CNN revealed he was aware of, and took to Twitter to defend against, allegations in 2020 that a company he worked at, Harbor City Capital Corp., was fraudulent. This contrasts with his claims in 2022, after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a complaint that it was a "classic Ponzi scheme," that he is "as distraught and disturbed as everyone else" to be first learning about the allegations now.
On Friday's edition of CNN's "The Lead," a panel tore into Santos over the new allegations, which come after a series of reports that he has lied about virtually every aspect of his life on the campaign trail.
"The troubles keep piling up," said anchor Jake Tapper. "We have the ethics investigation, there was a classic Ponzi scheme, questions about how he was able to loan his campaign $700,000. Is this guy just going to stick it out?"
"There's really no mechanism to make him go," said reporter Abby Phillip. "I mean, if he chooses not to go, even if Kevin McCarthy told him to go, he would have to be the one to submit his resignation, and really it just speaks to a shamelessness right now in our politics. And also this idea that he feels like there are no real consequences. I think he's also empowered knowing that McCarthy needs him, he needs that extra vote, with the margins as thin as they are and Democrats really eager to take the seat back in a Biden district. It gives him a lot of power to hang on for as long as possible."
Kasie Hunt agreed, adding that this is ironically the ideal career for Santos to be in.
"It seems like he's been doing this his whole life, right?" said Hunt. "His whole life he's been getting away with these various things, he just keeps going and pushing ahead. Now maybe he has found, like, the one career where you're not going to get fired if you do this stuff."
Watch the video below or at this link.
CNN panel on George Santos' lies about Ponzi schemewww.youtube.com
