Audio Shows Santos Pleading With Eviction Judge

Gothamist reports:

In the summer of 2014, eight years before his election to the U.S. House of Representatives, George Santos was in Queens Housing Court, begging a judge to let him feed his pet fish.

Santos, then 26, had recently been evicted for failing to pay rent on a two-bedroom apartment in Jackson Heights that he shared with his mother, sister and a rotating cast of roommates. He needed to get back inside, he told the judge, “so I can get my belongings and feed my fish.”

“I have a big fish tank,” Santos added, according to audio of the court hearing. Yasser Rabello, a former friend who lived in the apartment with Santos, said he had no recollection of a fish, let alone a large tank of them.

Read the full article.

As the piece notes, Santos has called people on welfare lazy and publicly sided with landlords during the COVID pandemic. But as you’ll hear, he was open to seeking emergency rental aid. Listen to the short audio report, which is narrated by public radio outlet WNYC.

In the summer of 2014, a recently evicted George Santos was in Queens Housing Court, begging a judge to let him back inside the apartment to feed his pet fish.

According to a former roommate, the fish didn’t exist.https://t.co/2KfmPqH03P

— Gothamist (@Gothamist) March 7, 2023