Santos has come under fire from Democratic lawmakers and some Republican officials for lying about key elements of his resume. Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York are examining Santos’ finances, including potential irregularities involving financial disclosures and loans Santos made to his campaign while he was running for Congress, according to NBC News.
The nonprofit watchdog Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against Santos on Monday, accusing the new lawmaker of violating campaign finance laws in his run for Congress.
Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who was chosen as the next chairman of the House Oversight Committee, recently said on Fox News that he’s “pretty confident” the House Ethics Committee will investigate Santos.
The larger federal probe appears to focus, in part, on a loan of over $700,000 Santos made to his campaign.
The headaches facing the campaign are even broader. The Federal Election Commission flagged more than a dozen donations in letters to the Santos campaign over the course of the 2022 election cycle, including two made by a Chinese immigrant named Cheng Gao, who was a prolific donor to former President Donald Trump’s first presidential run. The commission said it appears Gao exceeded the legal limit for campaign donations, as he gave $11,200 to the Santos campaign during the primary season, records show.
Gao could not be reached for comment.
The odd behavior includes payments to the campaign fundraiser who was said to impersonate McCarthy’s chief of staff on fundraising calls. The campaign paid Sam Miele almost $50,000 for fundraising consulting during Santos’ failed 2020 run for Congress, and over $42,000 during the successful 2022 cycle, FEC records show.
Miele’s payments from the Santos campaign during the 2022 midterms went through an obscure limited liability company called The One57 Group, according to FEC records. Florida business records show that Miele is the manager of the company. The final $5,995 payment to the Miele-led company came in January 2022, according to an FEC filing.
Santos’ lawyer Murray said that Miele’s company was “let go about a year ago.”
An archived version of the company’s website boasts clients in New York, Washington, Florida and California. Yet, FEC records indicate that the The One57 Group has picked up very few political clients since it was first formed in New Jersey in early 2021.
Republican Tina Forte, who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., paid The One57 Group $500 in 2021 for what the filing calls “campaign consulting,” according to an FEC filing. A search through federal and state campaign finance records in New York, Florida and California shows that the company has seen only a few payments from any other political operation other than the Santos and Forte campaigns.
The One57 Group received only two payments in 2021 totaling $9,965 from the Rise NY PAC, a GOP-aligned group, according to New York state campaign finance records. Intrater donated $80,000 to the PAC over the course of the 2022 election cycle, state records show.
The payments to The One57 Group are just a fraction of the moves made by the Santos campaign that experts said were, at the very least, bizarre.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/09/george-santos-raised-money-from-wealthy-gop-donors-while-lying-about-his-resume.html