Last December, The New York Times reported on a newly elected republican member of the House of Representatives from Long Island named George Santos. At first, it looked as if Santos would be a breath of fresh air to the Republican party; he was part Brazilian and was in a same-sex relationship, two factors that might bring in new voters outside the traditional republican base of mostly white voters. However, it was apparent Santos was not all he seemed. According to an article from The Washington Post, Santos, on his campaign website, claimed he went to New York University and worked at Goldman Sachs. However, journalists digging into his background found that neither institution had any record of Santos having worked at Goldman or attended NYU. Santos also found himself in a spot of bother with the Brazilian authorities; according to The Post, Santos allegedly stole a checkbook and then used it fraudulently. The Brazilian police couldn’t catch him but were alerted to his whereabouts once he was elected.
As time passed, more allegations about Santos began to emerge. In February of this year, an article in Politico stated that Santos set up a GoFundMe for a veteran named Richard Osthoff, whose service dog needed surgery that would cost $3,000. After helping raise the 3K, Osthoff alleges that Santos closed down the GoFundMe and made off with the money. Then, in May of this year, Santos was charged by the federal government with 13 counts of wire fraud, money laundering, stealing public funds, and lying on public disclosure forms. On Tuesday, it was revealed by the New York Times that Santos is facing further counts of wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, and making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, as well as possibly obstructing the FEC’s investigation. Who knows how this plays out, but I have a feeling that George may have some serious explaining to do with the feds.
Crispin Corruption Report 