George Santos “vulnerability report” was widely circulated among top Republicans, sources say

A “vulnerability report” commissioned by Rep. George Santos (R-NY) in the months leading up to his election in 2022 revealed many of the lies, deceits, and fabrications that would soon consume the New York congressman-elect in scandal, just weeks after his victory.

And many top Republicans had seen it.

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According to CBS News, which published portions of the 100-page document for the very first time, the report’s conclusions circulated among campaign strategists for top House Republicans, and were so concerning that the Congressional Leadership Fund, the super PAC dedicated to electing House Republicans, withheld its support for Santos.

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House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) claimed in January he “always had a few questions about” Santos’ résumé, but he didn’t acknowledge any awareness of the report detailing the explosive revelations circulating behind the scenes.

Another top House Republican, Elise Stefanik (R-NY), campaigned with Santos well after the report was compiled, and, like McCarthy, claimed she was unaware of the allegations against Santos until after his election. Both she and McCarthy declined to comment on the report’s publication.

According to The New York Times, which first reported the existence of the incriminating research in January, the information was so damning that several members of Santos’ campaign team quit when the candidate vowed to keep running.

The report exposed many of the allegations that have embroiled Santos in controversy, from his fraudulent academic history to multiple evictions and a suspended driver’s license.

It also included evidence that led a federal grand jury to indict the freshman rep on seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, and one count of theft of public funds.

Santos “used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in a statement accompanying the charges in May.

The document shed light on some well-known aspects of Santos’s inflated resume, including his time as “a senior executive” with Florida-based Harbor City Capital, which had been accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of operating as a Ponzi scheme. 

In a since-deleted YouTube video for the firm, Santos, then known as George Devolder, lauds his bosses, claiming “the leadership in Harbor City is so amazing, and we’re well led.” 

“We have a great executive board, and the allure of that is the sense of unity it brings to the company culture,” Santos is quoted as saying in the report.

The document also revealed less well-known portions of Santos’s employment history, including a stint with an online travel agency based in Turkey that was savaged in customer reviews. A “complete scam,” the “worst company,” and “cheating, lying scum” were among the damning comments.

The report zeroed in on Santos’s sham green card marriage to ex-wife Uadla Vieira, as well, questioning the “true circumstances” of the relationship. Santos married the Brazilian national in the United States in 2012, at the same time he was in a relationship with longtime boyfriend Pedro Vilarva. The report documents Vilarva’s Facebook page with the profile name “Pedro Santos” in the same period.

The report also called into question Santos’s claims he’s the grandson of Holocaust survivors.

A Santos flack declined comment on the report, saying his office doesn’t comment on personal matters.