A timeline of the rise and fall of former US Rep. George Santos
But he soon came under fire for lying about his life story, and on Friday, the now-former congressman was back on Long Island for a very different announcement: He was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for fraud and theft.
Here is a timeline of his rise and fall:
Nov. 8, 2022: Santos defeats Democrat Robert Zimmerman in the first known congressional election featuring two openly gay candidates.
Dec. 19, 2022: The New York Times publishes a story questioning whether Santos fictionalized his resume.
Dec. 26, 2022: Santos admits fabricating some details of his biography, including that he had a degree from Baruch College and had worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Despite calling himself 'a proud American Jew' in a position paper, he insists he 'never claimed to be Jewish' but rather 'Jew-ish.'
Dec. 28, 2022: Nassau County prosecutors say they have launched an investigation into Santos.
January 2023: Santos is sworn into office. Questions surface about how he financed his campaign after filings offer contradictory accounts.
Jan. 31, 2023: Santos steps down from his congressional committees but says he won't resign.
February 2023: Revelations surface that Santos had been charged with stealing puppies in Pennsylvania in 2017 by using bad checks. The case was dismissed after Santos said the checks came from a checkbook that had been stolen from him.
March 2, 2023: The House Ethics Committee announces an investigation into Santos.
May 10, 2023: Santos is indicted and pleads not guilty to federal charges that he stole from donors and his campaign, collected unemployment benefits he didn't deserve and lied to Congress about his wealth.
Oct. 10, 2023: A new indictment accuses Santos of stealing donors' IDs and making unauthorized charges to their credit cards. Santos pleads not guilty to the revised charges later that month.
Nov. 16, 2023: The House Ethics Committee says in a scathing report on Santos that it amassed 'overwhelming evidence' of lawbreaking, concluding flatly that he 'cannot be trusted.'
Dec. 1, 2023: Santos is expelled by the House on a vote of 311-114, easily clearing the two-thirds majority required.
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December 2023: Not long after being expelled from the House, Santos is found to be offering the public personalized video messages for up to $200 on Cameo.
February 2024: Santos sues late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, alleging Kimmel deceived him into making Cameo videos that were used to ridicule Santos on the show.
April 23, 2024: Santos drops his longshot, independent bid to return to Congress, a month after announcing his candidacy. His campaign committee reported raising no money in March 2024.
Aug. 19, 2024: Weeks before the case was to go to trial, Santos pleads guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, blaming his ambition for clouding his judgment and saying he was 'flooded with deep regret.' The same day, a judge dismisses Santos' suit against Kimmel, saying the host's use of the Cameo videos for criticism and commentary was a fair use.
April 25, 2025: Santos is sentenced in federal court to more than seven years in prison.
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Kicking back in the United States, though, has long been the norm. Harry S. Truman helped make Key West, Florida, a tourist hot spot with his 'Little White House' cottage there. Several presidents, including James Buchanan and Benjamin Harrison, visited the Victorian architecture in Cape May, New Jersey. More recently, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama boosted tourism on Massachusetts' Martha's Vineyard, while Trump has buoyed Palm Beach, Florida, with frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago estate. But any tourist lift Trump gets from his Scottish visit is likely to most benefit his family. 'Every president is forced to weigh politics versus fun on vacation,' said Jeffrey Engel, David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, who added that Trump is 'demonstrating his priorities.' 'When he thinks about how he wants to spend his free time, A., playing golf, B., visiting places where he has investments and C., enhancing those investments, that was not the priority for previous presidents, but it is his vacation time,' Engel said. It's even a departure from Trump's first term, when he found ways to squeeze in visits to his properties while on trips more focused on work. Trump stopped at his resort in Hawaii to thank staff members after visiting the memorial site at Pearl Harbor and before embarking on an Asia trip in November 2017. He played golf at Turnberry in 2018 before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland. Trump once decried the idea of taking vacations as president. 'Don't take vacations. What's the point? If you're not enjoying your work, you're in the wrong job,' Trump wrote in his 2004 book, 'Think Like a Billionaire.' During his presidential campaign in 2015, he pledged to 'rarely leave the White House.' Even as recently as a speech at a summit on artificial intelligence in Washington on Wednesday, Trump derided his predecessor for flying long distances for golf — something he's now doing. 'They talked about the carbon footprint and then Obama hops onto a 747, Air Force One, and flies to Hawaii to play a round of golf and comes back,' he said. Presidential vacations and any overseas trips were once taboo Trump isn't the first president not wanting to publicize taking time off. George Washington was criticized for embarking on a New England tour to promote the presidency. Some took issue with his successor, John Adams, for leaving the then-capital of Philadelphia in 1797 for a long visit to his family's farm in Quincy, Massachusetts. James Madison left Washington for months after the War of 1812. Teddy Roosevelt helped pioneer the modern presidential vacation in 1902 by chartering a special train and directing key staffers to rent houses near Sagamore Hill, his home in Oyster Bay, New York, according to the White House Historical Association. Four years later, Roosevelt upended tradition again, this time by becoming the first president to leave the country while in office. The New York Times noted that Roosevelt's 30-day trip by yacht and battleship to tour construction of the Panama Canal 'will violate the traditions of the United States for 117 years by taking its President outside the jurisdiction of the Government at Washington.' In the decades since, where presidents opted to vacation, even outside the U.S., has become part of their political personas. In addition to New Jersey, Grant relaxed on Martha's Vineyard. Calvin Coolidge spent the 1928 Christmas holidays at Sapelo Island, Georgia. Lyndon B. Johnson had his 'Texas White House,' a Hill Country ranch. Eisenhower vacationed in Newport, Rhode Island. John F. Kennedy went to Palm Springs, California, and his family's compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, among other places. Richard Nixon had the 'Southern White House' on Key Biscayne, Florida, while Joe Biden traveled frequently to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, while also visiting Nantucket, Massachusetts, and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. George H.W. Bush was a frequent visitor to his family's property in Kennebunkport, Maine, and didn't let the start of the Gulf War in 1991 detour him from a monthlong vacation there. His son, George W. Bush, opted for his ranch in Crawford, Texas, rather than a more posh destination. Presidential visits help tourism in some places more than others, but Engel said that for some Americans, 'if the president of the Untied States goes some place, you want to go to the same place.' He noted that visitors emulating presidential vacations are out 'to show that you're either as cool as he or she, that you understand the same values as he or she or, heck, maybe you'll bump into he or she.'
