Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., will soon introduce a bill to punish candidates who lie to voters; and it's modeled after embattled Rep.-elect George Santos, R-N.Y., who's been the subject of scrutiny after acknowledging fabrications about his personal life and political career.
The SANTOS Act — "Stop Another Non-Truthful Office Seeker" — is clearly aimed at Santos and his alleged fabrications, according to a Torres tweet Thursday.
For that same social post, Torres wrote: "BIG NEWS: I am introducing a bill to require candidates to disclose under oath their employment, educational, & military history so we can punish candidates who lie to voters about their qualifications."
Over the past week, Santos — who was elected to represent New York's 3rd Congressional District — made national headlines for allegedly lying about his Jewish heritage, employment history, and educational background.
Also, there has been criticism of Santos potentially being untruthful about the date of his mother's passing and whether it was resulted from the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
According to the Washington Examiner, the Republican Nassau County district attorney has launched an investigation into Santos' fabrications.
Also on Tuesday, Rep.-elect Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., called for a House Ethics Committee investigation or law enforcement to get involved with the Santos investigation, "if necessary."
A number of Democrats have called for Santos, 34, to resign before next month's swearing-in to office; and Torres' proposed legislation could trigger even more public calls for Santos to vacate his congressional seat.
Torres' stance could be seen as hypocritical, some have pointed out, since he also has a tweet from Jan. 21, 2021, in which he praised Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who infamously claimed Native American heritage to garner acceptance to Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania.
In October 2018, CNN wrote that Warren possessed a minimal range of Native-American heritage, from 1/64th to a "whopping" 1/1024th.
Torres' proposed legislation might also bring forth some renewed skepticism of prominent Democrats, such as President Joe Biden, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, R-Conn., and former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, for their public missteps, or discrepancies with their own personal and professional histories.
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