January 3, 2023

Did George Santos Speak to a Living Human Today?

The loneliest boy on the House floor.

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

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The 118th Congress opened on Tuesday with dramatic questions. Would Kevin McCarthy suffer a historic, first-in-a-century defeat? If such a humiliating event were to happen—and it did—then how many rounds of voting would it take for a House speaker to finally emerge from the ashes of this political fire?

But personally, the most suspenseful moments so far have had nothing to do with the speakership. Instead, my tired eyes have only lit up whenever the cameras drifted over to George Santos, the Long Island Republican who was elected to Congress earlier this morning but has since faced intense intense scrutiny after it was revealed he faked much of his biography. In Congress so far, he’s appeared to spend most of his time on the floor furiously texting on his phone, probably to no one. It’s unclear if he ever spoke to any of his new colleagues, but my theory, more a guess really, is that he did not. When confronted with the people who did want to hear from him, Santos dodged.

I’m not one to normally poke fun at the lonely. But Santos, of course, is not a new kid on the first day of school here. The admitted liar stands out in a party full of them and is under at least two investigations in the United States for his fabricated resume and shady finances. Just yesterday, Brazillian authorities announced they intend to reopen an old case regarding Santos and a stolen checkbook. His apparent falsehoods touch on everything from 9/11 family deaths to being Jewish. Anyway, we’re about to get tortured with many more hours, perhaps even days, of House floor drama until someone clinches 218 votes. Here’s to hoping we get more shots of the most unpopular man in Congress.

Correction, January 4: George Santos has not yet been sworn in as a Congressman.

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That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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