Advertising
Supported by
The findings, which have been sent to prosecutors, will most likely result in an attempt to oust the embattled congressman from the House.
By Grace Ashford
The House Ethics Committee on Thursday uncovered “substantial evidence” that Rep. George Santos violated federal law, paving the way for a new attempt to oust the embattled New York Republican for his first term and leading him to claim he would seek reelection. .
House investigators concluded that Santos had used the crusade’s budget for profit, defrauded donors and presented false or incomplete monetary and monetary information, according to a scathing 56-page report released Thursday.
Santos “sought to fraudulently exploit each and every facet of his House candidacy for his own non-public monetary gain,” the report says, adding that he supported his crusade “with a consistent series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff about his background. ” and experience. “
The committee voted unanimously to refer its findings to the Justice Department, stating that Mr. Santos “deserves public condemnation, is unworthy of office, and has brought the House into disrepute. “
And while the panel refrained from recommending punitive measures, its chairman, Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss. , announced he would introduce a new motion to impeach Santos, who will take office on Friday.
“Most of us had never realized something like this, so vast, so brazen and so bold,” said Rep. Glenn F. Ivey, a Maryland Democrat who sits on the ethics committee.
Within hours of the report’s release, a handful of Democrats and Republicans who had voted to protect Santos in the past said they were now in favor of his impeachment.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Thursday afternoon that he had reviewed the report and its “very troubling findings” but had not taken any position on Johnson’s future. Santos.
Santos, 35, a Republican who represents parts of Long Island and Queens, already faces a 23-count federal indictment that includes fees he stole from donors and falsified crusade materials.
He managed to become a Democratic district last November, but his victory was temporarily overshadowed by articles in the New York Times and others, which revealed that he had made up much of his life story.
Santos, who did not respond to a request for comment, resisted calls for his resignation and pleaded not guilty. But shortly after the publication of the Ethics Committee’s report, Santos announced that he will not seek re-election in 2024. .
However, he questioned the committee’s conclusions, writing on X, the online page formerly known as Twitter: “If there was a single shred of ETHICS in the ‘ethics committee,’ they would not have published this biased report.
The report, written after just nine months of investigation, damning and comprehensive, was accompanied by a pile of pages of supporting documents.
Investigators reported locating evidence of widespread malpractice by Mr. Santos in Congress, ranging from fictitious loans to outright scams.
Santos presented himself in the election campaign as a rich man, having worked at large banks such as Goldman Sachs, with a university degree and a family fortune that could help him personally lend thousands of dollars to his campaigns.
Congressional investigators have found otherwise.
In his first failed campaign in Congress in 2020, for example, Santos claimed to have lent his campaign $81,250 in various installments reflected in the F. E. C. trade. He actually transferred $3,500.
However, by the end of the campaign, he had repaid much of the original fictitious loans himself and made a profit of $27,700.
The numbers skyrocketed in 2022, when Santos said he had loaned more than $700,000 to his campaign. Those loans were granted, the report says, not when they were first reported in the spring, but as a component of a series of transfers in the fall from Mr. Santos’ private and business accounts.
Congressional investigators allocated some of the budget it provided to outside clients, but noted that the timing and other features of the bills raised “serious questions” about whether these were illegal contributions.
The report also points to a multitude of errors and omissions in Mr. Santos, some of them (such as more than three dozen expenses between $199 and $200, cents below the threshold for which receipts are required) that investigators say recommend fraud.
Elsewhere, the report highlights how Santos transferred giant sums between a New York PAC, a Florida LLC, and his private account, noting at one point that he withdrew a total of $240,000 that went unaccounted for.
And investigators accuse Santos of “blatantly” stealing his campaign, detailing trips and hotel stays in Las Vegas that coincided with the time he told staff members he was on his honeymoon, and the thousands of dollars spent on spas. has been described as for Botox.
George Santos has told so many stories that it can be hard to follow them. We’ve cataloged them, adding key questions about their personal finances, as well as their campaign and fundraising expenses.
Some of the report’s more salacious points fear a Florida firm called RedStone Strategies, which Santos used to raise cash without being constrained by campaign contribution limits.
Investigators found that Santos transferred at least $200,000 from RedStone through transactions in 2022, some of which was used to pay private credit cards and make purchases on Hermes, Sephora, and Onlyfans, an online site known for its adult content.
The congressman has denied any involvement in the finances of his crusade, saying his treasurer has become “dishonest. “
But investigators found that Santos was “heavily involved” in monetary matters, noting that he earned weekly money reports and expenses and had login credentials for campaign bank accounts.
Santos Treasurer Nancy Marks pleaded guilty to federal taxes last month, the first user linked to his crusade to do so. The second, a campaign aide named Samuel Miele, pleaded guilty earlier this week.
The committee was unable to substantiate allegations that Mr. Santos blames him for sexual harassment. The allegations were made last February through a potential aide who accused Mr. Santos of harassing him and then firing him after his advances were rejected. Santos’ crusader said it fired the aide after learning of wiretapping allegations against him in Ohio.
Earlier this month, a bloc of first-term Republicans representing moderate districts in New York state, where Santos, forced a vote on his expulsion from Congress. That effort failed decisively, with many House members saying they were reluctant to set a precedent. for impeachment a resolution of a court or ethics committee.
These critics, in addition to Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota, two Long Island Republicans, wasted no time in the ethics investigation to pressure their colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reconsider removing Mr. Santos.
The ethics committee described Santos’ investigation, which followed a series of court cases from members of Congress and the public, as a “priority for the investigative team” that used “a number of the committee’s resources. “
The panel contacted about 40 witnesses, reviewed more than 170,000 pages of documents and 37 subpoenas.
The investigation focused on a series of alleged moral and criminal violations, adding allegations that the congressman violated the conflict of interest law while working for his company, the Devolder Organization, and failed to properly disclose his financial data.
Part of this habit is also repeated through federal prosecutors, who have charged Santos with crimes related to his personal and electoral finances.
Santos’ re-election crusade had already faced an uphill battle. Even before he announced in April that he would run for office, state and county party officials said they would not help in his efforts. Its overall fundraising lagged behind its potential rivals.
Last month, Thomas R. Suozzi, the Long Island Democrat whose 2022 gubernatorial bid would have arguably helped pave the way for Santos, who is running for Congress, announced he will run for his old seat, hoping to fill the position. Torch. District under democratic control.
Luke Broadwater contributed reporting through Washington and Michael Gold of New York.
Grace Ashford is a reporter for the Metro office and covers New York State politics and government from the Albany office. In the past, he worked on the investigations team. Find out more about Grace Ashford
Advertising