- Claimed during his House campaign that he earned a bachelor's degree from Baruch College and an MBA from New York University. Both schools say they have no record of his attendance.
- Received widespread criticism after he claimed that his mother, who died in 2016, was a financial executive who worked at the World Trade Center and was a victim of the September 11, 2001 attacks. Santos later said he meant that she was "caught up in the ash cloud" and died years later from complications. Investigations later found his mother worked as a housekeeper and nurse and was last employed in 1994. Immigration records showed that she was living in Brazil at the time of the attacks.
- Father Gercino Antonio dos Santos Jr. was a house painter.
- Grew up in the Phipps Garden Apartments at 51-09 39th Avenue in Sunnyside, Queens, New York.
- Has a sister Tiffany Lee.
- Mother Fatima Devolder was born in Brazil and emigrated to Florida in 1985 as a migrant worker to pick beans. She moved to New York City to work as a cook, housekeeper and nanny.
- Graduated from PS/MS 122, The Mamie Fay School, in Astoria, Queens, New York.
- Dropped out of high school. Later earned a GED.
- Was a customer service representative for Dish Network TV in College Point, Queens, New York.
- Graduated from IS 125, Thomas J. McCann Woodside Intermediate School, Queens, New York.
- From 2008-2011 he lived in Brazil, where he competed in drag queen pageants under the name Kitara Ravache.
- First openly gay Republican elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a nonincumbent.
- Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 3rd district, 3 January 2023 - 1 December 2023. Expelled from the House of Representatives on December 1, 2023, per House Resolution 878, for filing false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission, using campaign funds for personal purposes, engaging in fraudulent conduct, and engaging in violations of the Ethics in Government Act.
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