George said that there were allegations about the resume
The Loss of George Santos: A State Representative in Nassau County Described with “Defamatory Claims” by the New York Times
There are serious accusations against New York Rep.-elect George Santos and he deserves to clear his name, said a top Republican in Nassau County.
Joseph Murray, the attorney for the congressman-elect, told CNN in a statement on Monday that the Times was trying to “smeared” him with “defamatory allegations.” The Times report said Santos did not respond to repeated requests to furnish documents that would help to substantiate the claims while campaigning.
Both ofSantos’ bosses told CNN they have no record of his employment, despite his mention of it in his biography.
He did not graduate from a college or university, despite previous statements to the contrary.
As he prepares to take on his role as a lawmaker during the new year, the discrepancies raise questions for him.
“We are very disappointed in Congressman-elect Santos,” RJC CEO Matt Brooks said in a statement. He lied about his heritage and deceived us. In public comments and to us personally he previously claimed to be Jewish. He has begun his tenure in Congress on a very wrong note.”
Josh Lafazan, a member of the Nassau County Legislature in New York and a former candidate for New York’s 3rd Congressional District, said Tuesday that Santos should resign immediately.
Lafazan said he plans to write letters to the House Ethics Committee requesting an investigation and called on the attorney general’s office to look at “potential wrongdoing when it comes to campaign finance violations.”
GeorgeSantos has told a lot of lies. Lying about where you live, lying about where you went to college and lying about your employees dying in a shooting are disqualifications for office.
CNN also confirmed that Santos listed on his 2022 financial disclosure a salary of $750,000 this year and last at the Devolder Organization, which Santos has claimed is a “family firm” managing $80 million in assets.
The business was registered in Florida in 2020 but was recently deemed inactive by the state because of not filing required annual reports. A website or LinkedIn profile could not be found, and Santos failed to report any of the clients he served in his financial disclosure.
He claimed to be the creator and founder of his own charity called Friends of Pets United. But no such organization was found in the IRS’ searchable database, nor in the registered charities in New York state and Florida.
Santos has admitted to fabricating sections of his resume – including his past work experience and education – and has apologized but says he intends to serve in Congress.
Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro of Texas and Ted Lieu of California were among those calling on Santos – after the congressman-elect gave interviews acknowledging “embellishing” his resume – to resign and if he refuses, for the House to expel him.
All five Republicans have distanced themselves fromSantos, with them being some of the most vociferous voices in condemning him or calling on him to resign. Still, Democrats see an opening to tie these GOP freshmen to Santos.
“As a Navy man who campaigned on restoring accountability and integrity to our government, I believe a full investigation by the House Ethics Committee and, if necessary, law enforcement, is required,” GOP Rep.-elect Nick LaLota said in a statement.
Another incoming GOP lawmaker from New York, Rep.-elect Anthony D’Esposito, condemned Santos’ false statements and called on him to “pursue a path of honesty,” although he stopped short of calling for an investigation.
It’s not likely the House Republican leadership will refuse to seat the new member of Congress. The House has the power under the Constitution to expel any member with a two-thirds vote, but doing so is extremely rare and only five lawmakers have been expelled in US history.
The California Republican has not shown great appetite for punishing his own members for their bad behavior in the past. McCarthy has also declined to weigh in when members are under investigation, arguing he will let the probes play out before determining how to proceed.
“This will not deter me from being an effective member of the United States Congress in the 118th session,” Santos told City & State in an interview posted Monday night.
Nassau County Republican Committee Chairman Joseph G. Cairo, Jr., said Tuesday that Santos “has broken the public trust” and “has a lot of work to do to regain the trust of voters.”
Cairo said he wanted more than a blanket apology and that he was deeply disappointed in Mr. Santos. His lies have caused profound damage to many people, including those who have been impacted by the Holocaust.
A CNN report stated that family trees compiled by genealogy websites, records on Jewish refugees and interviews with multiple genealogy researchers can back up his grandparents’ claims that they survived the Holocaust.
On Tuesday night, when asked about his heritage by former congressman-turned-TV host Tulsigia,Santos said, “My heritage is Jewish.” I’ve always identified as Jewish. I was raised a practicing Catholic.
The Republican Jewish Coalition on Tuesday said the incoming congressman had “misrepresented his heritage” and “will not be welcome at any future RJC event.”
He admitted that he didn’t work directly for the two financial companies, but that he did work through his company, saying it was a poor choice of words.
The New York attorney general’s office told CNN last week that it had not initiated a “formal investigation” into Santos but said Attorney General Letitia James was “looking into” some of the things that were raised about Santos in recent reports.
Anne Donnelly of the Nassau County District Attorney called the congressman-elect’s fabrications and inconsistencies stunning.
She said that people in New York’s 3rd Congressional District must have an honest and accountable representative in Congress. No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it.”
Outbursts from a New York Rep.-Electron Mike Lawler: Expenditures against Markos-Santos
CNN confirmed reporting from the Times that Santos was charged with embezzlement in a Brazilian court in 2011, according to case records from the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice. However, court records from 2013 state that the charge was archived after court summons went unanswered and they were unable to locate Santos.
Rep.-elect Mike Lawler, a soon-to-be freshman lawmaker from New York, called for his fellow Republican to apologize and cooperated with any investigations. Lawler added that by downplaying action’s, Santos is “only making things worse.”
The records show 37 expenditures, on office supplies, hotels, ride-share app Uber, restaurants and more, for the exact same amount, filed with the Federal Election Commission.
Campaign finance experts say those expenditures the New York representative-elect reported stood out for a key reason: They are one penny below the dollar figure above which the FEC requires campaigns to keep receipts.
Those expenditures are among a number of oddities contained in the FEC reports of Santos, the Republican who won a seat in Congress in November and in recent days has faced scrutiny over a series of false claims about his family history, work history, education and more.
The expenditures and the $199.99 payments to several companies, was something that stood out to me, according to the deputy executive director of the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation.
He said the payments could reflect an effort to skirt FEC requirements for campaigns to keep receipts for expenditures over $200. The FEC encourages candidates to keep their receipts under 200 but only if they have to make payments over $200.
However, Ryan said, the consistent appearance of $199.99 charges effectively shows that Santos knew about the threshold he was attempting to skirt – potentially inviting Justice Department scrutiny and criminal penalties.
Ryan thinks that he knew what he was doing and that there was a bunch of expenditures below the legal requirement. If it was true that he misuses campaign funds, it was obvious that he was trying to avoid detection.
The Correspondence between the New York Rep.-elect Tom Zmich and Rep. Jonathon Santos: Why he shouldn’t run again
But if Santos does run again, party leaders are vowing to mount an aggressive effort to defeat him in a primary and have assured New York Republicans that Santos won’t be their nominee.
She said the whole person he created, and the ability to deceive us, is troubling. This man should not be in office and we all know it. I want to assure you the Republicans know it too.”
Tom Zmich, a former congressional candidate in the neighboring 6th District, said Santos is a friend of his and “hasn’t done anything wrong, as far as legality wise.”
This person spoke to CNN and said that he has been in contact with the representative-elect and shared text messages from December 22 in which he claimed he had been in touch with the Office of Congressional Ethics.
The donor initially believed that the person it was giving money to was an illegal immigrant, but they later realized that he was in fact a person with a strong heart. The donor was told that he was always talking about the big deals he had done.
CNN has reached out to the OCE requesting confirmation. The public can submit complaints to the office and it could be the first step in an investigation ofSantos.
A campaign donor who asked to be anonymous told CNN on Friday that she was shocked and betrayed by the news of the congressman-elect’s alleged deception.
The New Democrat Campaign Committee: Five-figure Campaign to Stabilize New York Republicans During the Midterm Recovery of the Empire State
The FEC requires a statement of candidacy from a candidate after they have raised and spent tens of thousands of dollars. Most incumbents promptly file statements of candidacy for the following cycle even if they don’t intend to run, to avoid running afoul of FEC rules.
This week, the FEC sent yet another such letter, ordering the campaign to fix the statement of organization that listed Olson as the new treasurer, because the paperwork incorrectly described Santos’ campaign committee as a national Republican Party committee. The campaign has corrected the error.
The FEC requires individuals who have raised more than $5,000 to register as a candidate within 15 days. Any such candidate, including incumbents like Santos, must file a statement of candidacy with the agency each electoral cycle.
The House Democrats’ campaign arm is launching a new effort to link vulnerable New York Republicans to Rep. George Santos, with Democrats betting that the freshman congressman will be a major liability for the GOP in key swing districts next year.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting five freshman Republicans who took donations from the same person, as of Monday, in a five-figure campaign.
Some billboards in their districts ask why the lawmakers took campaign money from a fraudster after learning of his financial issues, even though both returned the money after a number of revelations about his financial problems. The other three billboards, which feature a picture of Santos and the lawmaker, ask whether the members will return the campaign donations.
The weeks-long campaign, the details of which were first shared with CNN, comes unusually early in the cycle, and is a sign that Democrats plan to make a serious effort to reverse their midterm losses in the Empire State. While Democrats were able to stave off an anticipated red wave in many parts of the country, New York was an exception. Republicans in the country effectively ran on the issue of crime and flipped a number of seats in the House, which Democrats will look to exploit as they try to return to power in 2024.
The campaign of George S. Santos on Capitol Hill: Why FEC is asking questions about the new Congressman’s campaign treasurer
There were questions this year about who was the treasurer. The congressman’s campaign put out a notice on January 25 listing a political consultant as the congressman’s new treasurer. But the consultant’s lawyer says the campaign had done so without his authorization, and his client had turned down the job.
Andrew Olson, listed as treasurer of Santos’ federal political committees on February 21, does not serve as treasurer for any federal committees beyond those associated with the Republican congressman who represents parts of Nassau County, New York. New York election officials say there is no one registered in the state with the name that’s associated with it. The address associated with Olson and Santos’ campaign is that of a mixed-use apartment and commercial building in Elmhurst, New York, where the congressman’s sister resided until earlier this year.
On Capitol Hill on Wednesday, Santos did not answer any questions about his treasurer posed by CNN’s Manu Raju. Questions to the person who provided the email address have gone unanswered. The lawyer forSantos didn’t reply to inquiries.
On January 31, Marks informed the FEC that she had resigned. On that day, the campaign’s activity in the last two weeks of the year were detailed in a Santos filing with an electronic signature and note saying it was based on information from the previous treasurer Nancy Marks.
The initial report shows a lack of sophistication and lack of diligence with the details, said Saurav Ghosh, who was a former FEC enforcement lawyer.
It seems like his campaign has never done any kind of reasonable job in filing accurate and complete statements, which is why the FEC is asking them so many questions.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/02/politics/george-santos-campaign-treasurer/index.html
A New York Congressman’s Activist Organizing Committee: A Case Study of Tiffany Devolder Santos in an Elmhurst Building
The address listed for Santos’ committee and his treasurer on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, New York, is that of an apartment building that has been associated with Santos and his sister Tiffany Devolder Santos.
The congressman’s sister vacated her apartment in that building in January, court records show, and recently reached an agreement with her former landlord to repay more than $19,000 in back rent.
The employees in the Department of Labor office, beauty salon and finance firm on the second floor did not know the name of the man. The beauty salon’s owner said no other businesses or offices were on the floor, even though CNN couldn’t access it.
State election records show Tiffany Santos controls a New York-based political action committee, Rise NY PAC, that has described itself on social media as working to boost voter registration and enthusiasm. She was paid nearly $26,000 by the PAC during the 2022 election cycle, according to filings with the New York State Board of Elections.
