Dear Permission to be Powerful Reader,
Imagine this:
You’re watching the news one night, half-bored, half-drunk on whatever’s left in your fridge, and you see it:
“Congressman Expelled. 87 Months in Prison.”
You spit your drink.
You lean closer.
You think — Wait, what the hell?
Because this wasn’t some backbench nobody.
This was George Santos.
The golden boy.
The “American Dream” in human form.
A fresh face.
An “openly gay Republican” — hailed as proof that politics had evolved.
A rags-to-riches Wall Street whiz kid.
A self-made miracle.
Except…
It was all bullshit.
Every last piece of it.
The Life He Sold You
He said he worked for Goldman Sachs.
He said he graduated summa cum laude from Baruch College.
He said he founded a charity that saved thousands of dogs.
He said his mom died in the South Tower on 9/11.
He said his grandparents fled the Nazis.
All lies.
Provable, documented lies.
Goldman Sachs? Never heard of him.
Baruch? No record.
Charity? Never filed, never registered, never existed.
His mom? Alive and well in Brazil after 9/11.
His “Jewish” ancestors? Catholic immigrants from Brazil.
He wasn’t just lying about one thing.
He lied about everything.
Every inch of his résumé was a magic trick pulled with sweaty hands and a crooked smile.
He Wasn’t a Politician.
He Was a Con Man.
A true con man doesn’t just lie.
He sells you the dream you’re already desperate to believe.
That’s what Santos did.
He fed voters the perfect fantasy:
A successful businessman.
A fighter for the middle class.
A symbol of how far America had come.
You wanted it to be true.
So you looked the other way.
Everyone did.
Until the mask slipped.
How the Con Unraveled
It started with whispers.
Some nosy reporters poked at his “Wall Street career.”
Goldman Sachs said, “Who?”
Citigroup said, “Never heard of him.”
Then came the school records.
Nothing at Baruch.
Nothing at NYU.
Then the charity records.
Friends of Pets United? Never legally registered.
No tax filings.
No rescue dogs.
Then the financial records.
This is when it got dark.
Santos didn’t just lie to make himself look good.
He stole.
He looted.
He faked $500,000 in “loans” to his campaign — when he had less than $10K to his name.
He skimmed campaign donations into his personal bank account.
He stole donor credit card numbers — racking up unauthorized charges.
He spent donor money on Botox injections, luxury handbags, trips to Las Vegas, designer clothing, and OnlyFans subscriptions.
Yes.
OnlyFans.
Your congressional dollars hard at work.
The Moment the Walls Closed In
Behind the scenes, the FBI, the DOJ, the House Ethics Committee — hell, even the Nassau County DA — were all lining up like sharks.
Santos kept smiling for the cameras.
He even posted selfies like nothing was wrong.
(“Great day in the district!” he’d caption.)
All while the Feds were building a 23-count criminal indictment that read like the script of Catch Me If You Can — but dumber.
Wire fraud.
Identity theft.
Money laundering.
Conspiracy.
Credit card fraud.
Stealing from the unemployed during COVID.
This wasn’t some youthful mistake.
It was years of organized, calculated, relentless deceit.
Expulsion: A Historic Humiliation
By December 2023, even Congress — the land where shame goes to die — had enough.
The House voted 311–114 to expel him.
Only the sixth time in U.S. history that’s ever happened.
And get this:
He wasn’t convicted yet.
He hadn’t fought for the Confederacy.
Two of the historical bars for expulsion.
He was just that toxic.
He left the Capitol sneering:
“To hell with this place,” he spat at reporters.
Then he slinked away — pink bouquet left anonymously on his locked office door.
A career, and a life, reduced to wilted flowers and broken promises.
Courtroom Bloodletting
On April 25, 2025, George Santos stood before U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert.
Not as a congressman.
Not as a star.
Just another felon.
He tried to play contrite.
Voice trembling. Hands shaking.
Saying he “betrayed the confidence entrusted” to him.
Saying he was “humbled.”
He even cried.
But Judge Seybert wasn’t buying it.
She cut him down without mercy:
“Where is your remorse? Where do I see it?”
And then, hammer blow after hammer blow:
“You got elected with your words… most of which were lies.”
And the final decree:
“Your flagrant thievery eroded the very foundation of our democracy.”
87 months.
Almost 8 years.
Federal prison.
The Company He Keeps
You think about great frauds — Abagnale, Belfort, Madoff.
Here’s the dirty little secret:
Those guys were slick.
Smooth.
Dazzling.
They conned the rich and the powerful.
Santos?
He conned grandmas and veterans.
He stole from the middle-class donors who believed in him.
He maxed out the credit cards of retirees to buy Botox and subscribe to porn sites.
Not a Robin Hood.
Not a swindler with panache.
Just a cheap, small-time crook with a God complex.
As U.S. Attorney Breon Peace put it:
“For the first time since he began his campaign, Mr. Santos finally told the truth — when he pled guilty to defrauding his own supporters.”
What This Means for You
This isn’t just a story about George Santos.
It’s about how trust dies.
One lie at a time.
One politician at a time.
One stolen election at a time.
When you can’t even trust the résumé…
When you can’t trust the charity…
When you can’t trust the sob story about 9/11…
What’s left?
Santos is gone.
But the rot he exposed?
Still here.
As long as people keep chasing shiny illusions…
As long as voters reward charisma over character…
As long as lies get you elected and truth gets you laughed at…
This story will keep repeating.
Final Word
George Santos started as a symbol of hope.
He ended as a cautionary tale.
A punchline.
A prisoner.
And as he was led away from that courtroom in cuffs — through a sea of cameras, shame thick in the air — one thing was obvious:
No matter how big the con…
No matter how sweet the lie…
The bill always comes due.
Always.
Until next time,
Stay sharp.
Stay powerful.
Anton
Dancer, Writer, Buddhist.
Sources: Reuters, DOJ, CBS News, ABC News, NYT, The Guardian, Justice.gov, official press releases
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