Immigration documents show George Santos' mom wasn't in NYC on 9/11 despite his claims
A former roommate says Santos often used two names while raising money for his animal rescue nonprofit organization.
NEW YORK -- As a growing chorus of voices continues to call for newly seated New York Congressman George Santos to step down, a new piece of evidence obtained by ABC News is shedding light on one of his controversial claims.
ABC News has obtained the documents showing Rep. Santos' mother Fatima Devolder was not in New York during the September 11 attacks as he previously claimed.
The documents were first reported by The Forward and the Washington Post. They were obtained by Alex Calzareth, who requested them under the Freedom of Information Act and provided them to ABC News and other outlets.
According to the documents, Santos' mother had applied for a replacement green card in February 2003 with the American consulate in Brazil. On the form, she signed a statement saying she had not been in the United States since June 1999, placing her outside of the United States during the 9/11 attacks.
The news is just the latest revelation in a growing number of challenges to the congressman's claims in recent days.
On Wednesday, another protest called on embattled Republican congressman to resign.
SEE ALSO | George Santos took $3K from GoFundMe for dying dog belonging to disabled veteran
The rally at LaGuardia Airport urged officials to revoke Santos' passport because, demonstrators including Nassau County legislator Josh Lafazan say, Santos is a flight risk.
Santos is facing federal and state investigations after he acknowledged "embellishing" his resume, making up details about his work experience and education, including a claim that he attended Baruch College. He did not.
In a newly-surfaced radio interview, Santos is heard falsely claiming he not only attended Baruch but was a star volleyball player there.
"Look, I sacrificed both my knees and got very nice knee replacements from playing volleyball," Santos said in the interview. "That's how serious I took the game."
Critics also accuse Santos of misrepresenting himself as Jewish.
A former roommate says Santos often used two names while raising money for his animal rescue nonprofit organization.
"He used 'Zabrovsky' for his 'Friends of Pets United,' his GoFundMe," said Gregory Morey-Parker. "And he would say, 'Oh the Jews will give more if you're a Jew."
There's no evidence that nonprofit ever existed.
Meanwhile, a disabled veteran from New Jersey says Santos took thousands of dollars that had been donated to save his dying service dog.
Richard Osthoff said in 2016, Santos claimed to be Anthony Devolder who started the GoFundMe to save the veteran's service dog, Sapphire, who was suffering from a tumor. Osthoff said Santos never forked over the cash and the dog died.
As for another New York congressman, Democrat Ritchie Torres is requesting the Federal Election Commission investigate how Santos financed his campaign.
He reportedly lent more than $700,000 to the campaign after earning just $55,000 two years earlier.
"Mr. Santos either illegally coordinated with independent expenditure, or he illegally received a campaign contribution," Torres said.
Santos has not responded to the complaint sent to the FEC.
Despite all the chaos surrounding the congressman, on Wednesday, Republican leadership assigned Santos to two House committees.
The committees are low profile: the Science, Space and Technology Committee and the Small Business Committee.
