Dems Demand Santos Resign Over 'Whopping Lies'

"I will be sworn in, I will take office" was George Santos' recent vow on being seated in Congress next month, despite fallout from the discovery of multiple lies on his resume. But although it seems unlikely the House itself will prevent the recently elected congressman from Long Island from following through with his plans, Democrats are ratcheting up the pressure for the 34-year-old to resign, per the Hill. Among the fabrications Santos has since come clean about: graduating from Baruch College (he didn't, from Baruch or "any institution of higher learning") and working for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs (those companies say they have no record of his employment).

"George Santos, who has now admitted his whopping lies, should resign," demanded California Rep. Ted Lieu on Twitter. "If he does not, then @GOPLeader should call for a vote to expel" Santos. Lieu's California colleague, Rep. Eric Swalwell, agrees that Santos shouldn't be allowed to take the oath of office, while Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro doesn't just want a resignation or House expulsion—he thinks Santos "should also be investigated by authorities." New York Rep. Ritchie Torres agrees on an investigation, though he wants the House Ethics Committee to be leading that probe, mainly into where Santos gets his money from. "Where there's smoke, there's fire," Torres writes online.

Robert Zimmerman, the Democrat who ran against Santos in November in New York's 3rd District, wants to know if Santos made anything up on his financial disclosure forms, which might actually veer into crime territory. "How we go forward is to demand that George Santos be fully accountable with documentation to answer these questions," Zimmerman tells NBC New York. The Washington Post notes that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who's in the running for House speaker come January, hasn't yet responded to the misleading remarks or fabrications in Santos' CV. His most recent retweet of GOP Rep. Ben Cline, however, notes that "EVERY American deserves the opportunity to hold their representatives accountable" and that "transparency is coming back to this chamber." (More George Santos stories.)