Rep. George Santos Fact-Checked for Claims His Niece was Kidnapped by 'Chinese Men'

Openly gay New York Rep. George Santos has unveiled a new story, claiming in comments to the New York Times that his niece was kidnapped by two "Chinese men," and hinting that the alleged abduction was an intimidation tactic meant to silence his criticism of China's communist government, UK newspaper the Daily Mail reported.

Santos further claimed that the kidnapping "was the subject of an active police investigation," but the city's police department says no such report was ever filed.

In fact, the Mail relayed, a "high ranking official" with the NYPD told the Times, "We found nothing at all to suggest it's true," and added: "I'd lean into, 'he made it up.'"

If claims from Santos countered by fact checks and officials who say that his stories are bogus has a familiar ring, that's because since his election to the House of Representatives Santos has been snared in a seemingly endless series of falsehoods.

"In addition to lying to voters – about his distinguished Wall Street background, Jewish heritage, academic and athletic achievements, animal rescue work, real estate holdings and more – Santos is accused of carrying out numerous fraud schemes meant to enrich himself and mislead his donors," the Mail tallied.

The latest charges leveled at Santos "include allegations that he charged more than $44,000 to his campaign over a period of months using cards belonging to contributors without their knowledge," the Mail said.

The new claims from Santos were published in a Times article by Grace Ashford, who had covered Santos' fabrications from the start. Ashford described trying numerous times to get hold of Santos in the course of reporting on the controversies that have swirled around his fabrications and his alleged criminal activities in Brazil and in the U.S., all leading to a current total of "23 felony counts" against him, but not having a chance to speak with the man in person – except for one occasion when he hung up on her, then "called back a minute later to clarify that he does not 'hang up on people,' but assured me he would not be answering my questions, now or ever."

Until he did, unexpectedly phoning Ashford to complain about the negative press coverage he has received and holding her personally responsible, to some extent, for that coverage.

While he was at it, Santos made new claims that proved unfounded, or at least unverifiable, including a claim that "his team had requested numerous corrections" coverage done on him by the Times, "all of them ignored."

"Our standards team, which typically receives requests for corrections, found none from Santos or his representatives," Ashford noted.

Santos talked about getting death threats, and then offered to "give you one story that nobody talks about," before relating to Ashford an account about "how his 5-year-old niece disappeared from a playground in Queens, only to be located 40 minutes later on a surveillance camera with two Chinese men," and "implying heavily that it might have been in retaliation for his vocal stance against the Chinese Communist Party."

When Ashford asked if he was claiming the alleged abduction was perpetrated by the Chinese government, Santos replied, "Look, I don't want to go into like, conspiracy theory. But you know, if the shoe fits, right?"

The claim stood out to Ashford, who set about trying to verify the story.

"A high-ranking police official confirmed that officers had been called and had looked into the incident," Ashford wrote. "But they found no evidence of Chinese Communist Party involvement, or of any kidnapping at all."

The official told Ashford: "We found nothing at all to suggest it's true," before advising: "I'd lean into, 'he made it up.'"

In a subsequent call, Santos blamed others for his misfortunes and lamented, "I literally threw my entire life into the toilet and flushed it to get elected" – though, Ashford wrote, he "quickly add[ed] that he would do it all over again."

Santos has claimed that he is the victim of politically motivated investigations, characterizing the charges against him as a "witch hunt," according to the Mail – a denial that in style and substance sounds identical to another high-profile Republican politician facing legal woes and known for fabrications.

Ashford put her finger on another similarity, writing, "He was strangely compelling in our conversations," and adding, "But just as odd was the cognitive dissonance of being misled so brazenly."

When it comes to the allegations of mismanaging campaign funds and stealing from his donors, Santos pointed at Nancy Marks, his campaign treasurer, who recently pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and directly implicated Santos in having "filed falsified campaign reports with fictional donations and a fake $500,000 personal loan from Santos to his campaign."

None of that has dampened the politician's narrative. "I am ready to prove my innocence," Santos declared. "People think that I'm just going to get steamrolled. No, I'm going to prove my innocence."