George Santos

Fátima Devolder immigrated to Florida as a migrant worker to pick Beans in 1985.

She later moved to New York City and was a housekeeper, cook, and nanny.

Gercino Santos was a house painter.

Santos has claimed dual citizenship in the U.S. and Brazil.

George Anthony Devolder Santos (born July 22, 1988) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for NY's 3rd congressional district from January to December 2023, when he was expelled from Congress following a highly critical report from the House of Representatives Ethics Committee.

At that time, Santos was under indictment for 23 criminal charges (including fraud, theft and money laundering), but had not yet been to trial.

This made him the first member to be expelled without having been convicted of a crime or having fought for the Confederacy.

Santos is the sixth member of the House of Representatives to be expelled, and the first Republican.

Santos, who is gay, was the first Republican to be openly LGBT before being elected to Congress.

George Anthony Devolder Santos was born on July 22, 1988, to Fátima Aziza Caruso Horta Devolder and Gercino Antônio dos Santos Jr. (known as Junior), both of whom were born in Brazil; he has a younger sister, Tiffany.

His maternal grandparents, Paulo Horta Devolder and Rosalina Caruso Horta Devolder, were also born in Brazil.

Three of his four maternal great-grandparents were also born in Brazil, with the other born in Belgium.

His parents' marriage appears to have ended by 1998, when records in Gercino's native state of Minas Gerais show that he remarried there.

Santos remained close to his mother (living with her intermittently until her death) and maintained infrequent contact with his father.

According to a biographer, Santos developed a reputation within his family for deceit and theft during his childhood.

Santos holds a GED (Certificate of High School Equivalency).

He attended Intermediate School 125 (also known as I.S. 125 Thomas J. McCann Woodside Intermediate School) in Woodside, Queens, and Primary School 122 (also known as P.S.122 The Mamie Fay School) in Astoria.

Manoel Antiqueira, who performs in drag as Eula Rochard, recalls Santos returning from a 2007 trip to the U.S. with expensive materials for a dress that were not available in Brazil at the time.

Santos denied having been a drag queen, calling the allegations "categorically false" and accusing the media of making "outrageous claims about my life"; two days later, he said, "No, I was not a drag queen in Brazil, guys. I was young and I had fun at a festival."

While in Brazil, Santos's politics were shaped by his family's generally strong support for right-wing politician Jair Bolsonaro, who later became Brazil's President.

Santos supported Bolsonaro despite his open homophobia.

The Santoses frequently disparaged Brazil's then president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on social media.

George moved to Niterói in Brazil's Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area, where Fátima was then living, around 2008 and lived there until 2011, although acquaintances of Santos from that period are unsure whether he lived in Brazil or merely visited.

Many knew him as Anthony Devolder.

Fátima lived in difficult circumstances, working odd jobs, moving around frequently due to unpaid rent, and obtaining electricity illegally.

Santos told people his family had money because his father was a high-paid executive in New York.

A friend from that time says Santos was very involved in local LGBT activism, handing out leaflets and regularly attending meetings of a local activist group and Pride parades.

Two former acquaintances said that he competed as a drag queen in Brazilian beauty pageants in 2008 using the drag name Kitara Ravache, with one saying that Santos began dressing in drag in 2005.

In 2013, a Brazilian court described him as American.

Santos has said his family was poor during his childhood, living in a rat-infested basement apartment in Jackson Heights, Queens, near a Brazilian immigrant enclave in Astoria.

Relatives and friends recall that his parents and an aunt often bought him dolls, toys, and clothes despite their lack of money.

He ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 3rd district in 2020, but was defeated by incumbent Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi.

Suozzi opted against seeking re-election in 2022, and Santos ran for Congress again.

This time, Santos prevailed, defeating Democrat Robert Zimmerman.

Within six weeks of his election, news outlets began reporting that much of his biography appeared to be fabricated.

Santos admitted to having lied about his education and employment history, while his disclosures about his business activities, income, and personal wealth were inconsistent with one another.

Further, Santos had not disclosed his criminal history or the existence of lawsuits against him.

Santos was sworn in as a member of the House in January 2023, but faced ongoing media scrutiny as well as demands for his resignation from members of both parties.

Following an investigation by the House Ethics Committee and the filing of federal criminal charges, the House of Representatives voted 311–114 to expel Santos on December 1, 2023.

Santos has pleaded not guilty to the 23 fraud-related charges against him.