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GOP DUPLICITY: Political watchdog gives FEC receipts of George Santos’ fraud in lawsuit

GOP DUPLICITY: Political watchdog gives FEC receipts of George Santos’ fraud in lawsuit

GOP DUPLICITY: Political watchdog gives FEC receipts of George Santos' fraud in lawsuit

The non-partisan political watchdog Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint on Monday with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) accusing Rep. George Santos (R-NY) of violating campaign finance laws.

The recently elected freshman congressman is alleged to have not only misrepresented campaign expenditures and misappropriated resources, but to have covered up where the out-of-nowhere financing originated.

During the 2022 election cycle, Santos supposedly loaned his campaign over $700,000, despite reporting a 2020 income of only $55,000 according to financial disclosures, the complaint points out.

Dozens of suspicious disbursements are logged at exactly $199.99, just under the $200 threshold for requiring receipts.

“The sheer number of these just-under-$200 disbursements is implausible, and some payments appear to be impossible given the nature of the item or service covered. Accordingly, there is reason to believe Santos’s campaign deliberately falsified its disbursement reporting, among numerous other reporting violations,” the complaint claims.

In some instances, the reported spending did not stand up to scrutiny, according to the complaint.

It highlighted a reported $199.99 payment for an Oct. 13, 2021, “hotel stay” at the W South Beach, a Miami hotel whose least expensive room for a midweek stay in October is priced at more than $700, The Washington Post reported.

In a May 11, 2020 filing with the House of Representatives, Santos reported only one source of income, a $5,000 “Commission Bonus” paid by “LinkBridge Investors.”

Strikingly, Santos amended that filing the same day changing his income from LinkBridge to over $55,000 including commissions and bonuses on top of his salary.

“Santos did not report that any client paid him more than $5,000 for his personal services, as required by disclosure rules issued by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Ethics,” according to the complaint.

Rep. Santos has amended multiple FEC filings, but that didn’t keep the Long Island, NY representative from appearing on the regulating agency’s radar.

Last week the agency sent a letter to the Santos campaign alerting them to the FEC’s concerns.

The freshman congressman has been given until February 8th to respond with the names of donors who gave more than $200 – as required by law.

Original reporting by Isaac Stanley-Becker at The Washington Post

Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick

Ty Ross
News journalist for Occupy Democrats.

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