Jorge Santos still claims that his ancestors are Jewish

• Rep. Jorge Santos says he is gathering evidence to confirm his Jewish heritage.
• Santos said CNN’s Manu Raju That this is “something I will prove before I die.”
• The embattled New York Republican admitted to lying about his education and work history.

Rep. Jorge Santos once again doubles down on his claims of Jewish descent. This time, the embattled New York Republican says he’s certain his ancestors escaped the Holocaust — he just needs to put the “final pieces” of evidence together.

Santos told CNN’s Manu Raju in an interview interview It was broadcast on Sunday that he had hired genealogists to verify his Jewish heritage.

“Is there documentation for this?” Raju Santos asked.

“Oh, that’s what I’ve spent the last 10 months doing, but unfortunately, Ukraine is in the middle of a weird war, and my grandfather comes from Ukraine,” Santos said, referring to the ongoing war in Ukraine.

“So this is the biggest lift I’ve ever had to do in my entire life. But this is something I’ll prove before I die,” Santos continued.

Santos went on to express his disbelief and frustration as to why people would question his heritage.

“This is something I’ve always made very clear. I’m Catholic, I come from a Jewish family, and this is my family’s Jewish history. Why is this a problem?” Santos told Raju.

Santos promoted his Jewish connections while canvassing. But in December, the news site straight ahead reported that Santos claimed to be a “proud American Jew” in a Memo sent to pro-Israel groups During his campaign.

Santos later told… New York Post In December, he said he “never claimed to be Jewish” and instead said he was “Jewish” because his mother’s family was of Jewish descent.

During the interview with CNN, Santos appeared to immediately walk back his previous statements about the existence of evidence when Raju pressed him for solid documentation.

“I’m working on getting the last pieces of it, specifically the piece in Brazil where they go to Brazil, and then the documents are forged so they can integrate into all of that,” Santos said.

CNN mentioned In December 2022, Santos’ maternal grandparents were born in Brazil, citing information from several sources such as genealogy platforms. My heritage And Genet.

But Santos told Piers Morgan in February that his grandparents’ birth documents were forged and that they had fled to Brazil to escape the Holocaust.

“Once everything is ready, I will gladly allow the same company I appointed to submit the report to the press, because that will be the only thing I will be able to say that I never meant to hurt anyone.” Santos told Raju.

Santos survived two expulsions from Congress this year. The scandal-plagued politician is seen as a liability for the Republican Party after he admitted to falsifying his education and work history while campaigning.

Santos, who won election to the House of Representatives in November 2022, also faces federal charges of conspiracy, wire transfer, credit card fraud and identity theft.

Representatives for Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside normal business hours.