Long Island’s Gold Coast is known to many as the backdrop for a story about a fictional character who concocted fabulous tales about his past to climb the ranks of New York’s high society in a ceaseless quest for the object of his desire.

Nearly 100 years after F Scott Fitzgerald set The Great Gatsby in these same opulent shores, the 34-year-old Republican congressman has once again drawn the eyes of the world onto the eastward-stretching leg of New York City, and invited comparisons to the titular character of that Great American Novel along the way.

Where Jay Gatsby ultimately failed in his efforts, Santos succeeded in his. A man who repeatedly lied about his own history, from claiming his mother died on 9/11, to falsifying his education and net worth — not for love, but for donations, votes and influence — was elected to a seat in one of the most powerful legislative bodies in the world.

So, how did he do it? How did he fool so many people? How did no one know? The truth is, many did. But no one listened to them.

In the Long Island congressional district he was elected to represent, George Santos is a pariah.

This is electoral politics turned on its head. A member of Congress should, in theory, have more to fear from the snakepit of the Capitol than the people who elected them. The reason why Santos doesn’t tell us something about the state of the Republican Party today.

A former roommate of Mr Santos has claimed that he threatened to have her sent back to Brazil when she confronted him about stealing her jewellery and money.

The roommate, Adriana Parizzi, told Mother Jones that Mr Santos “made it very clear that I was in his country…and at any point, if I opened my mouth, he could send me back to Brazil”.

The 55-year-old told the outlet that she bought the tickets for the two of them to fly to New York in February 2011.

“He didn’t have any money to go back and I was the way for him to leave Brazil,” she said.

“He always convinced people that everything was a big misunderstanding,” she added.

Mr Santos has rejected the claims.

“Everybody that has ever wanted to come for me is coming for me and they are making s*** up on the way, and I look very much forward to poking holes in all these people who are making these insane accusations without any corroborating evidence—because it is false,” he told The New York Times.

George Santos is facing severe criticism after a social media comment from 12 years ago was unearthed by Patch.

Mr Santos commented on a photo posted by a friend on Facebook in March 2011 showing what seems to be a salute with the caption “something like Hitler”.

“hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh
hiiiiiiiiiiiitlerrrrrrrrrrr (hight hitler)
lolololololololololololol sombody kill her!! the jews and black mostly lolllolol!!! Dum” Mr Santos wrote.

His lawyer Joseph Murphy told Patch, “the Facebook comment that you reference…is completely false, absolutely disgusting — There is absolutely nothing to talk about”.

“This man went from “I’m Jewish and my family died in the Holocaust” to mocking Jews, the Holocaust, and praising Hitler. To be honest his lie and his mockery both come from the same antisemitism and hatred of Jews—and @SpeakerMcCarthy proudly stands by this antisemitism,” Qasim Rashid tweeted.

“Ok, at this point, it has to be asked. Are we sure George Santos isn’t the zodiac killer? I’m just waiting for that shoe to drop,” Alejandra Caraballo added.

“We are disgusted to learn that Congressman George Santos, who lied about being Jewish during his campaign, had previously posted vile comments about Adolf Hitler and Jewish and Black people,” the organization Stop Antisemitism wrote.

The Federal Election Commission has sent a letter to the Santos campaign asking for more information on the paperwork submitted showing a new treasurer who claims he never took the job.

The Thursday letter states that Mr Santos’s campaign “may have failed to include the true, correct, or complete treasurer information” on the documents submitted on Wednesday showing that Thomas Datwyler is its new treasurer and the custodian of records.

Five separate fundraising committees received the same letter after they also sent in documents showing Mr Datwyler as their new treasurer.

The committees and the campaign have to respond before 2 March.

The FEC letter said that if they’re found to have provided a “materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation” on the documents, they could face criminal charges.

Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina blasted embattled fellow GOP Representative George Santos of New York and said he should resign.

The South Carolina Republican spoke to The Independent in an exclusive interview.

“I mean, if you look at the allegations about his campaign finance, there are serious issues there,” she said.

Specifically, federal prosecutors are investigating irregularities regarding financial disclosures and loans, according to NBC News. “Nothing he has ever said has turned out to be true.”

“He should resign, but he won’t and if you watch the press gaggled up, chase him around Capitol Hill, he’s loving the attention,” she said. “He’s smiling and giggling and just soaking it up.”

George Santos fled questioning on Thursday after the man listed as his treasurer argued that he didn’t work for the New York congressman.

The latest issue flagged by reporters with ABC News on Thursday stems from filings that several fundraising committees working on behalf of the Santos 2022 campaign made with the agency specifying a change in the individual assigned as treasurer for the committees. Those committees are now listed as having their financial operations overseen by Thomas Datwyler, a longtime specialist in political campaign finances.

But there’s just one problem: Mr Datwyler adamantly told ABC News that he is not working for the Santos campaign, and in fact had informed them of that before the FEC filings were submitted: “On Monday, we informed the Santos campaign that Mr. Datwyler would not be serving as treasurer,” said Mr Datwyler’s attorney Derek Ross.

Trixie Mattel of RuPaul’s Drag Race and George Santos got into a feud on Twitter over the rumours that the New York Congressman was a drag queen in the past.

It can be difficult keeping up with the list of fictions that George Santos has been accused of telling, admitted telling, or merely been caught spinning red-handed following a contradictory statement.

But, do not fret: The Independent is here, and we’re keeping track of the whole list of lies even as it continues to grow — both in number and in the sheer scale of the humiliation that it presents for not just Mr Santos, who remains adamant that he will serve two years in office as representative for New York’s third district, but for the Republican House caucus as a whole.

John Bowden details all of Mr Santos’ lies so far:

The Lincoln Project’s George Conway has mocked George Santos over his string of lies.

“I just spoke to George Santos and he tells me it’s Friday,” he tweeted on Thursday.

Mr Conway was responding to another Twitter user, who had asked: “How is it still Thursday?”