Another day brings another peek into the past of embattled New York Congressman George Santos. The website Gothamist obtained several recordings, dated between 2014 and 2017, featuring Santos in housing court hearings related to three separate evictions from New York apartments during this period. The low-quality audio recordings provide glimpses into Santos’ life before he first ran for office in 2020 and provide new insights for understanding the extent to which he has exaggerated or falsified significant aspects of his life.
The first of the three audio clips date to 2014, as Santos is being evicted from a New York apartment. In the clip, Santos requests to be able to reenter the apartment to recover clothes he had left there and feed his fish. In a ridiculous yet not surprising twist, Santos’ former roommate claims this plea was based on a lie, as Santos did not own any fish then. Twitter user Resident NY3, whose profile claims “I harbor a disdain for scammers,” posted a biting remark, saying, “the only fish in that apartment was the catfish known as George Santos.”
I think we all know the only fish in that apartment was the catfish known as George Santos pic.twitter.com/8wTKuly2LL
— Resident NY3 (@Ny3Resident) March 7, 2023
The second recording is dated December 24, 2015, and features Santos appearing in court as he faces eviction from a different apartment. That time, he explained his inability to pay rent by claiming he had been caring for his sick mother. This part is possibly factual as his mother appeared to have passed away the following year based on documentation about her death. However, this recording does not clarify discrepancies about the circumstances of Santos’ mother’s death; Santos has claimed she died due to the September 11 terror attacks and has refused to retract these claims, even during his recent wild interview with journalist Piers Morgan.
George Santos claimed his mother died in 9/11.
When that was proven false he clarified that she didn’t actually die on 9/11, she later succumbed to an illness stemming from the attack.
Now it turns out she was never in the South Tower, and wasn’t even in the U.S. at the time. pic.twitter.com/lIvHLVVlPo
— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) January 19, 2023
George Santos continues to claim his mother was working at the World Trade Center on 9/11, Piers Morgan nails him. (Video: Piers Morgan Uncensored) pic.twitter.com/u5zdCWtGbf
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) February 21, 2023
In the final recording from 2017, Santos is again in court over yet another apartment, this time owing more than $12,000 in back rent. “I’ll do my best” to pay the rent, Santos said and agreed to apply for public assistance. However, as Gothamist pointed out, Santos has criticized others for taking public aid. He has also said that he was working for Goldman Sachs at the time, though that was later proven to be a lie.
Overall, the new recordings add details about Santos’ fabricated and fishy stories. As the Republican congressman continues to defend himself against growing investigations into his conduct, we can expect more shady and ridiculous stories like these to come to light.
