George Santos Unsuccessfully Tries to Gaslight Erin Burnett By Denying Widely Reported Fact He Settled Fraud Case
Rep. George Santos (R-NY) denied the widely reported news that he settled a case against him in Brazil earlier this year, only to have CNN’s Erin Burnett read the network’s reporting to him.
Brazilian authorities charged Santos with defrauding a clerk out of $1,30o by using a fake name and a stolen checkbook to buy goods in 2008. However, they were unable to locate him. In May, he agreed to pay the victim $2,800 and a fine to the Brazilian government. In exchange, the criminal charges were dropped.
Santos was elected to the U.S. House in 2022 thanks to a fabricated resume in which he lied about his career, his education, and other personal details, such as having Jewish ancestry and that his grandmother survived the Holocaust.
During Tuesday’s OutFront on CNN, Burnett asked Santos about the case:
BURNETT: So, when I look at what you have done before, you did make a deal with prosecutors in Brazil when they charged you with fraud and you avoided prosecution in that deal. You did so by confessing and paying retribution to the victim. So, would you do something like that again?
SANTOS: Like I said, I don’t know where you’re getting your information from. But I would challenge you to bring up receipts on that because that’s not how it happened in Brazil.
BURNETT: All right. The bottom line question is would you–
SANTOS: So you’re not prepared? So hold on. You’re not prepared. You made, you made a statement–
BURNETT: Well, no, are you going to say that you did not make a deal with prosecutors?
[CROSSTALK]
BURNETT: Did you make a deal with prosecutors in Brazil or did you not?
SANTOS: Well, I just told you, no, but you’re not prepared. So, you brought me on air, on national television–
BURNETT: No, no. You can come on and say that that’s false. That’s your right to say that it’s false.
SANTOS: I’d love to see you put receipts on the screen so the American people can see it.
BURNETT: Our reporting is that you confessed and paid retribution to the victim. That’s all I can say, is, that’s our reporting
Burnett moved on before returning the matter later in the interview – with the receipts Santos demanded.
Here’s how that went:
BURNETT: So, I wanna follow up on the Brazil point since you said that we hadn’t done our homework. Documents obtained by CNN showed prosecutors in Brazil agreed to a deal with you in a case in which you were accused of defrauding a Rio de Janeiro area clerk of $1,300 of clothes and shoes in 2008. The victim says you appeared on video. So, do you have any response to that?
SANTOS: I’m not engaging on this because, again, if you can’t prove to the American people your allegations, then I’m not going to entertain it. You, please, you guys need to be better prepared next time.
BURNETT: I will stand by our reporting, and I want to be very clear about that.
Santos is full of it. Numerous outlets reported in May that he paid restitution to his victim and a fine to the Brazilian government to get the charges against him dropped.
The only-term congressman is under a 13-count federal indictment in the U.S. for fraud, money laundering, theft, and making false statements. He pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Santos was also accused of pocketing $3,000 by a veteran who said Santos pledged to help a veteran raise money for surgery for his dog, which later died.
In another instance, Santos was accused of literally stealing puppies.
Watch above via CNN.
