George Santos: The man who pushed the envelope of political lying.

Louis Conte’s The Truth be Told: Exploring corruption, controversy, and deception in today’s world from the perspective of a forensic psychophysiologist (Polygraph Examiner).

Louis Conte is a professional Polygraph Examiner, investigator, and writer. In addition to the thousands of offenders he interviewed over his thirty-three years in law enforcement, Conte has conducted over fourteen hundred polygraph examinations. He uses well-honed observation skills to ferret out the truth. Observation and careful attention to words and behavior often reveal the truth.

I’ve been asked to examine newly elected Congressman George Santos (R – NY 3^rd Congressional District) and weigh in on his performance in a video interview with Tulsi Gabbard on Fox.

Most of the time, I am asked to evaluate someone’s words and behavior to assess whether the person is being deceptive. In this case, that fact has already been established. Santos may claim that he “embellished his resume,” but he lied so much about his background and who he is that he is now regarded as being a total fraud. What is frustrating for many is that Congressman Santos does not express genuine remorse and that he exhibits a “devil may care” attitude about what he has done. Santos has made statements where he points to the deceptive behavior of other politicians and responds with “other politicians lie too.”

Tulsi Gabbard, a Fox contributor, and former U.S. Representative, suggests that lying has become commonplace in Washington. Many political commentators have proposed that America’s cynicism about accepting the lies of elected officials stems from President Nixon’s deceptions during the Watergate Scandal. George Santos is simply another politician added to the list.  

Santos has been accused of lying on his resume, in his campaign literature and in public statements. What follows is a sample of the lies he is accused of (last I checked).

Santos claimed he attended Baruch University and was a standout volleyball player. Baruch officials stated they don’t know of him. He then claimed to have attended NYU, but they have no record of his attendance either. Santos recently stated he “didn’t graduate from any institution of higher learning.” He reported that he attended the prestigious Horace Mann High School in New York City but there is no evidence of his attendance there. It may be that Santos possesses a high school equivalency, but that is not certain either.

Santos’ employment history and finances are also opaque. He claimed that he worked at Goldman-Sachs and Citigroup - prestigious financial companies. Yet both companies say he never worked for them. He worked at a Florida investment firm, Harbor City, as an investment manager. In April of 2021, Harbor City was charged by the Security and Exchange Committee for having run a Ponzi Scheme that stole $17,000,000.00 from investors (Santos has not been charged in the case). Santos also reported that his family owns a private firm named Devolder, which allegedly possessed several million dollars in investments. Santos claimed he managed finances under the alias, Anthony Devolder.

No one knows where Santos’ campaign money originated, how he financed it or even whether some his campaign doners ever existed. There are campaign hijinks emerging – reports such as doner credit cards usage without their permission and a campaign staffer impersonating House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during phone conferences.

During the campaign, he claimed that he “lost four employees” at the Pulse Nightclub mass shooting in Orlando, Florida in 2016. Records of those who lost their lives do not support this claim.

In January, Santos claimed on a Portuguese language podcast that he was the victim of an assassination attempt.

Santos claims to have been a journalist in Brazil but there is no record of his ever working in journalism.

Santos reported that his mother, Fatima Devolder, described as being a “finance executive,” worked in the World Trade Center at the time of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He claimed she eventually died from cancer due to the toxic effects of working near Ground Zero. However, two Brazilian genealogists documented that Fatima Devolder was in Brazil – not the United States - at the time of the World Trade Center attacks.  

Santos claimed that his grandmother was a Ukrainian Jew and a Holocaust survivor, but there is no evidence to support that assertion. Regarding his faith, Santos claimed he was Jewish but now admits he is Catholic. He modified this claim reporting that he has Jewish relatives on his mother’s side, was “raised Catholic” but regards himself as being “Jew-ish.”

Santos is known to have married and divorced a woman in Queens. He now claims to be gay and to have a male husband. However, his husband has not appeared at any campaign events. No records of his second marriage have been produced.

Under his alias Anthony Devolder, Santos also claimed to have appeared on Disney’s Hannah Montana and Suite Life of Zack & Jody. He also reported that he appeared in a film called The Invasion with actor Uma Thurman but there is no such film under that name featuring her. Santos also claimed to be a producer of the failed Broadway rock musical, Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark.

It appears from a photograph that Santos may have been a drag queen performer in and around Rio de Janeiro around 2005. He allegedly aspired to be Miss Gay Rio de Janeiro.

No one is really sure who George Santos is. He may or may not have a high school education or college degree. There is no evidence of his purported financial expertise. Santos says he is gay, claims that he has been a journalist, an actor, and a failed Broadway producer. He says he is the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, an assassination survivor, both Catholic and “Jew-ish.” He may be the only Republican currently serving in Congress who is a former drag queen.  

Who is George Santos really?

Santos is a chameleon. A humbug and BS artist who has conned his way into Congress. I have met thousands of criminals, many of whom lie as easily as they change their socks. However, a person like Santos is exceedingly rare. It is remarkable that neither his party nor the Democrat party uncovered his background prior to the election. That Santos has been elected to high federal office is almost beyond belief.

Many people in New York’s 3^rd Congressional District want Santos removed and he faces a House Ethics Committee Proceedings. The Nassau County District Attorney is investigating him.

Santos has done a few interviews with the media in an attempt to explain himself but continually falls short of apologizing or demonstrating genuine remorse. One can imagine that public relations “handlers” - professionals who help politicians handle scandals - have been brought in to try to limit the damage. Santos presents them with a tall order. It is one thing to help an established politician who has transgressed. It is another thing to repair the image of a total fraud.

Santos decided to try to explain himself publicly on a few occasions. Here is his attempt with Tulsi Gabbard on Fox.

Santos does a terrible job explaining himself. Several issues are identified. Santos attempts to distract and redirect the listener to the lies told by other political figures. This is frequently observed in people attempting to evade responsibility for their behavior. Gabbard is incredulous about Santos’ explanations and pursues him in an effort to have him speak the truth or at least attempt an acceptable apology. In my opinion, Santos attempted to suppress his blink rate to appear sincere but there are times when eyes narrow in anger. His eyebrows raise slightly but, oddly, Santos’ forehead remains smooth. Did he have Botox treatments? When Gabbard asks how he can represent his district on the floor of the House, Santos sucks in his cheeks, swallows hard and stammers, “Well, look, I agree with what you’re saying. As I stated and I continue, we can debate my resume and how I worked with firms like Goldman…” Santos crumbles and gets lost in his own tangled words. Santos stammers into vague convoluted descriptions of the world of private equity. He then states that regular people would not understand the world of high finance stating, “It is a discussion that’s going to go way over the American people’s heads…” Gabbard recoils at this statement and points out that Santos has “insulted the intelligence of the American people about the lies you’ve told and that you’re saying you can’t explain it in a way that your constituents would understand and that these lies are debatable.”

But the lies are not debatable.

As the interview draws to a close, Santos admits that he “embellished his resume” but stops short of saying he lied. Santos claims he is a victim of “everyone wants to push me and call me a liar.” Claiming to be a victim is a common device used by perpetrators. He ends the interview glaring at Gabbard. At no time does Santos accept responsibility for what he has done.

What is challenging is that Americans may have become acclimated to “political lying.” Santos is playing to that unstated reality by talking about other politicians. Will there be any consequences, or will it be just another day in Washington?

If Santos was attempting to explain himself, he failed. If he was attempting to apologize, he failed.

Is it even possible to apologize for this amount of political lying?

The best example of someone who got close to a genuine apology was former President Richard M. Nixon. Please take a moment to watch this excerpt from Nixon’s lengthy interview series with David Frost.

This seems to be a genuine moment, but I ask the readers to weigh in. In my opinion, Nixon expressed regret and acknowledged that his behavior caused real harm to the people he loved and to his country, and particularly to young people who might want to serve in government in the future.

And Nixon was right. He stated that he will carry that burden for the rest of his life.

Now, the truth be told, an apology does not undo Nixon’s damage and will not undo the harm that Santos has inflicted. However, Nixon’s apology allows us to understand that he did care about his country. His admission of wrongdoing to David Frost shows that he understood the damage done by his transgressions. Right now, we have no context for Santos’ lies. We know that he lied excessively to con the people in his district and get elected. We are left feeling hoodwinked and wonder bitterly if it is just another day in Washington.  

If you are interested in looking at human beings in a new way, I invite you to consider enrolling in my Truth and Deception course at IPAK.edu. We will look at everything from non-verbal behavior to twisting the truth with words to understanding the techniques used by those in power to deceive.