Indicted GOP Rep. George Santos Blames Ukraine War For Preventing Him From Proving ‘Jew-ish Heritage’

Indicted Rep. George Santos (R-New York), who is famed for his many fabrications about his life story, now says he can prove one of the stories true – if only the Ukraine war would end.

One of the Brazilian-born congressman’s stranger claims is that he is of “Jew-ish heritage.” After news organizations were unable to find any evidence to support this story, Santos said this week he can prove his ancestry after he is able to get his hands on records located in Ukraine.

“That’s what I spent the last 10 months doing, putting together, but unfortunately Ukraine is in the middle of a frickin’ war, and my grandfather comes from Ukraine,” he told CNN. “That’s something … I’m gonna prove before I die.”

He later tried to qualify the  claim by saying that he is “Jew-ish” – he is Roman Catholic but has some Jewish heritage.

Last week, a Republican-led effort to remove Santos from Congress failed, allowing him to remain in the House despite concerns from his colleagues.

The effort was piloted by Santos’ fellow first-term New York Republicans, who cited the 23 federal charges he is currently facing for inflating campaign finance reports, charging donors credit cards, fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits and lying on House financial disclosures.

This marked the second attempt this year to expel Santos from office. Only five lawmakers in U.S. history have been expelled from the House, three of whom were ousted for being disloyal to the Union during the Civil War.

The chamber voted 179-213-19, falling short of the two-thirds threshold required to remove a member. Twenty-four Republicans voted to expel Santos and 31 Democrats voted against the measure.

“I will continue to serve the 3rd Congressional District of New York until the people choose to not have me,” Santos told reporters as he left the Capitol.

“I don’t care. I don’t care about [Republicans in Congress]; I don’t care about politics,” he continued. “I care about policy. I came here for policy. I don’t care about reelections and keeping political hacks employed.

Santos noted that he has not yet met with Ethics Committee investigators to discuss his legal woes, but that he fully intends to cooperate.

“That’s part of the process; I welcome it,” he said.

Santos has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claimed that he has no plans to resign.

In January, Santos denied reports that he performed as drag queen in Brazil despite photos that show otherwise.