And So It Begins: HBO Is Making a Movie About George Santos Produced by ‘Veep’ Exec

AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

The political career of former Rep. George Santos (R-NY) may be over — at least for now — but his legendary antics have already earned him a biopic.

Deadline announced on Saturday that HBO Films has optioned the book The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos by Mark Chiusano, which chronicles the shady rise and very public fall of the flimflam man who became the sixth person ever to be expelled from Congress. It was published on November 28, less than a week ago.

The movie, which Deadline reports is already in development, will be written by Mike Makowsky, who also wrote HBO Films’ Bad Education, and is being produced by Frank Rich, the columnist who produced two of HBO’s most successful series, Veep and Succession. It was described as “a forensic and darkly comic look at the crazy, unprecedented congressional race on Long Island that led to Santos being elected to Congress”:

[T]he film tells the story of a seemingly minor local race that wound up a battle for the soul of Long Island, and unexpectedly carved the path for the world’s most famous (and now disgraced) congressman. It follows the Gatsby-esque journey of a man from nowhere who exploited the system, waged war on truth and swindled one of the wealthiest districts in the country to achieve his American Dream.

Santos, who lied about everything from his personal life, his family, his job experience, his education, and his name before and after he was elected to Congress, was found by the House Ethics Committee to have misused campaign funds for personal items and services including designer shoes, Botox, and porn. The scathing report on Santos’s unethical behavior came on the heels of his federal indictment on 23 counts including conspiracy and wire fraud. Santos has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

But the attention-loving Santos invited just a little too much unwanted publicity for his colleagues in the House of Representatives who voted on Friday to expel the fabulist 311-114. Declaring “to hell with this place,” Santos left the Capitol in a huff to a world of new opportunities. Probably not cable news, but, you know, something else that will cost someone else dearly.