As the spurious saga of U.S. congressman George Santos twisted anew Tuesday with an apparent admission from the New York Republican regarding the origins of hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign cash, critics took aim at GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for refusing to take any action against the serial liar.
According to the Daily Beast, on Tuesday, “Santos’ political operation filed a flurry of amended campaign finance reports, telling the feds, among other things, that a $500,000 loan he gave to his campaign didn’t, in fact, come from his personal funds as he’d previously claimed.”
After reviewing the documents, Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for the nonprofit watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, toldThe New York Times that “I have never been this confused looking at an FEC filing,” a reference to the Federal Election Commission.
“Santos has proven he is wholly unfit for office, and his violations of our laws and public trust cannot go unanswered. Congress should investigate his unethical and likely illegal actions and expel Santos from the House.”
From the mystery of how his net worth skyrocketed from near zero to $11 million in less than two years; to demonstrable lies about his education, employment history, residence, and purported Jewish heritage; to allegations of fraud perpetrated in Brazil and against a U.S. combat veteran and his dying dog, few figures in U.S. history have had so much of their personal and political life called into question as Santos.
“Does it surprise me if you told me that a person who had to file this many amendments has now also had to amend his own life story?” asked Libowitz. “Not really.”
Sean Eldridge, founder and president of the political advocacy group Stand Up America, said in a statement that “George Santos has lied about nearly every aspect of his life, and as more evidence comes to light, it’s become increasingly clear that he violated campaign finance laws.”
“Yet, Speaker McCarthy has refused to hold him accountable for his lies and misdeeds,” he continued. “Even as McCarthy has blocked trusted public servants from returning to their roles on the [House] Intelligence Committee, McCarthy has empowered Santos by seating him on two committees and gutting the Office of Congressional Ethics that should be tasked with investigating Santos.”
Eldridge was referring to McCarthy’s removal of Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, both California Democrats, from the intelligence committee. Santos, meanwhile, will serve on the small business and science, space, and technology committees.
When pressed on what it would take for GOP leadership to take action against Santos, McCarthy told reporters Tuesday that “if… when we go through Ethics and he has broken the law, then we will remove him” from office.
“Once again, McCarthy is putting his personal power ahead of what’s best for the American people,” Eldridge said.
One of the biggest mysteries currently surrounding Santos involves the statistically improbable number of $199.99 expenses reported by his campaign—a penny below the legal requirement for keeping invoices or receipts.
As Politiconotes:
Santos, who admitted in December that he faked parts of his biography, already faces a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission alleging his campaign repeatedly reported suspicious expenses. Those included eight charges of exactly $199.99 at an Italian restaurant in Queens and another $199.99 charge at a Miami-area hotel where rooms do not usually go for less than $600 per night. The specific amount matters because campaigns are required by law to keep receipts or invoices for expenses greater than $200.
Campaigns
rack up millions of dollars in expenses and thousands of line items per
campaign, but it is rare for them to notch even one $199 expense,
according to a Politico review of campaign finance records. FEC data
shows more than 90% of House and Senate campaign committees
around the country did not report a single transaction valued between
$199 and $199.99 during the 2022 election cycle.Santos reported 40 of them.
Adav Noti, a former FEC attorney and senior vice president at the Campaign Legal Center, another nonprofit watchdog group, told Politico that “we don’t know where the money came from, we don’t know where the money went to.”
Santos’ attorney won’t comment on the matter, citing ongoing investigations.
“Santos has proven he is wholly unfit for office, and his violations of our laws and public trust cannot go unanswered,” said Eldridge. “Congress should investigate his unethical and likely illegal actions and expel Santos from the House.”
