The Home Ethics Committee on Thursday stated it discovered substantial proof that Republican Rep. George Santos of New York stole cash from his marketing campaign and used his connections to high-value donors to complement himself. The allegations would place him in violation of federal prison regulation and sure set the stage for one more push to expel the embattled first-term lawmaker from Congress.
In an explosive 56-page ethics report launched after an almost nine-month lengthy investigation, Home investigators painted an image of a sitting lawmaker who used his marketing campaign for private acquire, alleging that Santos spent marketing campaign funds on Botox remedies, designer items, and lavish journeys together with his husband. It additionally detailed his purported makes an attempt to obfuscate his monetary transactions, suggesting a deliberate effort to assemble a deceptive and fictional monetary narrative inside official data.
Consultant Santos sought to fraudulently exploit each facet of his Home candidacy for his personal private monetary revenue, the report acknowledged. He blatantly stole from his marketing campaign. He deceived donors into offering what they thought have been contributions to his marketing campaign however have been actually funds for his private profit.
Shortly after the report was launched, Santos introduced that he wouldn’t search re-election. “I’ll nonetheless NOT be in search of re-election for a second time period in 2024 as my household deserves higher than to be beneath the gun from the press on a regular basis,” he wrote on X, previously referred to as Twitter. He referred to as the report biased and wrote, It’s a disgusting politicized smear that reveals the depths of how low our federal authorities has sunk.
The bipartisan Home Ethics Committee voted unanimously to refer its findings to the Division of Justice, asserting that Santos’ conduct “warrants public condemnation and is beneath the dignity of the workplace. Whereas the committee avoided recommending particular punitive measures, the report might pave the way in which for a 3rd try and expel Santos from officea transfer that, if profitable, would make him simply the sixth Home member to be expelled in U.S. historical past. A number of lawmakers had beforehand expressed their willingness to help expulsion if prison wrongdoing or a big breach of ethics have been discovered.
At 35 years outdated, Santos, a Republican representing elements of Lengthy Island and Queens, has been surrounded in controversy since he admitted to mendacity about his job expertise and school schooling throughout his marketing campaign. He additionally faces a 23-count federal indictment, which incorporates allegations of stealing from donors and falsifying election marketing campaign filings. Santos has pleaded not responsible and resisted requires his resignation.
The Home investigators compiled over 170,000 pages of paperwork and testimony from dozens of witnesses, together with monetary statements, to help their conclusion. The report accused Santos of knowingly inflicting his marketing campaign committee to file false or incomplete studies with the Federal Election Fee, utilizing marketing campaign funds for private functions, partaking in fraudulent conduct with RedStone Methods LLC, and violating the Ethics in Authorities Act in relation to his Monetary Disclosure Statements filed with the Home.
Listed here are among the largest findings from the report.
Misuse of marketing campaign funds for private journey and cosmetics
The report listed a number of examples of how Santos used marketing campaign funds for private functions whereas on the marketing campaign path, together with at the very least two purchases of $1,400 and $1,500 on his marketing campaign debit card that have been famous as Botox in expense spreadsheets.
It additionally detailed the usage of greater than $2,000 in marketing campaign funds at a resort in Atlantic Metropolis, greater than $3,000 on an Airbnb whereas he was vacationing within the Hamptons, and journey and lodge prices in Las Vegas that corresponded to the time when he informed workers members he was on his honeymoon. His questionable marketing campaign spending additionally included $6,000 price of luxurious items at Ferragamo shops, $1,000 in ATM withdrawals, $800 at a on line casino, and cash to pay his lease.
In response to the report, these expenditures didn’t seem to have a marketing campaign goal. A former staffer informed investigators that Santos didn’t have any type of fundraising or marketing campaign actions in Atlantic Metropolis however that Santos stated he loved visiting casinos to play roulette, usually together with his husband. One other staffer stated Santos as soon as took him to a Botox appointment when there was a marketing campaign occasion close by.
The report additionally famous vital journey bills for flights, lodges, Ubers, and meals that his marketing campaign incurred. One witness stated that Santos traveled as soon as a month and one other testified that they have been anxious concerning the look of the marketing campaign spending all this cash onall these dinners and journey exterior of the district.
Deceiving donors
The report additionally detailed how Santos allegedly deceived marketing campaign donors into sending cash to an entity referred to as RedStone Methods, a Florida firm that the Home panel alleged he used to dupe donors into financing his life-style. Investigators uncovered that Santos funneled at the very least $200,000 to his private checking account from RedStone by way of a collection of transactions in 2022. A few of these funds, in accordance with the report, have been allegedly utilized to settle private bank card money owed and bask in luxurious purchases at institutions equivalent to Hermes, Sephora and OnlyFans, the web site identified for its grownup content material.
He deceived donors into offering what they thought have been contributions to his marketing campaign however have been actually funds for his private profit, the report stated, including that his actions by way of RedStone have been one in all some ways he sought to use his marketing campaign, and the entry to rich donors it afforded him, for his personal private revenue.
Fictitious loans
The Home committee additionally alleges that Santos reported tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} in fictitious loans to his marketing campaign, after which repaid himself with actual cash. Investigators stated that through the 2020 election cycle, Santos inflated six private loans he made to his personal marketing campaign that have been reported at $81,250, when in actuality they totaled simply $3,500, permitting him to profit politically and financially from the false mortgage info by inflating the obvious funds of his marketing campaign.
Consultant Santos was continuously in debt, had an abysmal credit score rating, and relied on an ever-growing pockets of high-interest bank cards to fund his luxurious spending habits, the report stated, including that at the very least one staffer went eight months with out being paid for his or her work. He often deposited giant quantities of money that he has by no means accounted for, moved cash between his varied financial institution accounts in a extremely suspicious method, and remodeled $240,000 money withdrawals for unknown functions.
Santos function
Santos has tried guilty his former treasurer for the false statements inside his marketing campaign finance studies, claiming that she went rogue and was answerable for all filings. However the report seems to problem that protection technique. A number of witnesses testified that Santos was arms on and actively engaged in his campaigns funds, noting that he acquired weekly finance studies and invoices, and had login credentials to the marketing campaign’s financial institution accounts.
The ISC was not swayed by Consultant Santos makes an attempt guilty others, the report stated. He was the last word beneficiary and figuring out participant of a lot of the fraudulent reporting, because the falsely reported private loans and contributions helped him meet benchmarks wanted to win the help of the nationwide occasion and challenge a robust marketing campaign to the general public.
