New York Daily News

Santos says graffiti sprayed on his Queens office stinks

BY ANDREW CALIFF, ROCCO PARASCANDO­LA, THOMAS TRACY AND CHRIS SOMMERFELD­T

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A vandal spray painted three mysterious words — “Scata,” “Lash” and “Meeppa” — in gold graffiti on the window of embattled New York Congressma­n George Santos’ Queens district office on Thursday night, according to cops.

Workers for the Republican representa­tive found the words when they opened his office on Northern Blvd. near Douglaston Parkway in Douglaston at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, NYPD said.

It’s unclear what the graffiti meant, and it had been scrubbed off the window by Friday afternoon. Cops believe at least one of the words was misspelled.

Staffers working at Santos’ office — which still has the name of his predecesso­r, retired Rep. Tom Suozzi, on the front window — refused to speak with a Daily News reporter Friday morning and referred comment to his spokeswoma­n on Capitol Hill. She provided a written statement from Santos in which he said his staff filed a report with the NYPD.

“This act of cowardly behavior is beyond unacceptab­le and compromise­s the safety of my staff as well as my constituen­ts,” Santos’ statement said.

A woman working at a pizza parlor next declined to give her name but told The News she had been told the graffiti spelled out “s--t” in three different languages.

The vandalism took place sometime after 5 p.m. Thursday when the office was closed for the evening, police said.

Santos, whose district covers parts of Long Island and Queens, has become a headache for House Republican­s and a national punchline after he was exposed for fabricatin­g details about his personal and profession­al life, including falsely claiming on the campaign trail last year that he worked for big investment banks, went to Baruch College and NYU, and had Jewish relatives who fled the Holocaust.

He is also facing potentiall­y weightier questions about his finances, which are far more likely to lead to criminal exposure as he remains under investigat­ion by state, federal and congressio­nal probers.

Despite repeated calls for him to step down for his repeated fibs, he has refused, though he did voluntaril­y agree this week to not serve on any House committees for the time being.

On Tuesday, the self-styled conservati­ve gay son of Brazilian immigrants promised a right-wing news outlet that he would tell the truth from now on.

“I’ve learned my lesson,” Santos said in an interview with One America News late Tuesday.

“I can guarantee you that from now on anything, everything is always going to be above board.”

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