George Santos Complains About Criminals Doing Things He's Accused of Doing

Embattled New York Republican Representative George Santos was called out for complaining about crimes that he is also accused of committing.

Elected to represent New York's 3rd Congressional District last year, Santos's time in office has been marked by waves of controversy over wide-ranging allegations of dishonesty and wrongdoing. Among the many allegations leveled against him, Santos has been accused of lying about his academic and employment histories, lying about his mother's death, falsely claiming to be Jewish, falsely claiming to be descended from people who fled the Holocaust and stealing money raised for a veteran's service dog.

While the freshman congressman has dismissed some of the allegations, he has admitted to fabricating certain aspects of his background. But Santos has refused to resign from office, despite being called to do so by many colleagues, including some of his fellow Republicans. The GOP lawmaker is also now under federal indictment for 13 charges related to campaign finance irregularities, including wire fraud and theft of public funds. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.

On Sunday, the Patriot Takes Twitter account, run by a group focused on "monitoring and exposing right-wing extremism," shared a clip of Santos complaining about the kinds of crimes being committed in his congressional district. Among the crimes he listed was "the theft of nice clothing," which he is also accused of doing by a former roommate.

"George Santos, who is under indictment for 13 federal charges and who allegedly took a Burberry scarf, shirts, and Ikea dresser from his roommates, complained about criminal activity in his district including the theft of nice clothing," the Patriot Takes account wrote.

In the clip, Santos discusses recent trends in crime, saying that criminals who go to New York City also target the affluent north shore of Long Island, which the congressman's district, the wealthiest in the state, includes.

"They burglarize your homes, they steal your cars, they hold you at gunpoint, they empty...your closets," Santos said. "Do you know how many times I see that constituent's closets were empty, cause they took their purses, their jewelry? I mean, these are not common thieves, they have an eye for nice things. It's amazing."

After stories began to emerge detailing Santos's alleged transgressions, Gregory Morey-Parker, a former housemate of his, came forward and claimed that the congressman had stolen a Burberry scarf that he had recently been gifted in early 2021. Morey-Parker claimed to be "100 percent" certain that Santos had taken the scarf and worn it to give a speech in Washington, D.C., on January 5, 2021, where he spoke in support of Donald Trump's false claims of mass voter fraud.

Similarly, Santos' ex-boyfriend Pedro Vilarva alleged earlier this year in an interview with The New York Times that the Republican stole from him while they lived together in 2015 prior to his involvement in politics. He accused Santos of stealing his phone, and said that he never saw his ex-boyfriend go to work.

"He used to say he would get money from CitiGroup, he was an investor," Vilarva said. "One day it's one thing, one day it's another thing. He never ever actually went to work... I would be scared to have someone like that in charge — having so much power in his hands."

Newsweek reached out to Santos's office via email for comment.