Image courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer
Republican George Santos is the House Representative for the 3rd District of New York. After a failed run for office in 2020, Santos defeated his Democratic opponent in the November 2022 election. In late December 2022, news broke that Santos had lied about his resume. On December 26, Santos conceded that he had embellished his resume and apologized, but stressed that he did not break any laws. Just two days later, however, the Nassau County District Attorney opened an investigation into Santos's questionable background. Since then, Santos has been accused of a plethora of lies, from lying about working for Goldman Sachs, to misusing campaign funds, to stealing money from a GoFundMe for a veteran's sick dog.
Political pundits have mocked Santos for his serial lying, and the Representative is a laughing stock to many Americans. However, the election of Santos is a severe concern for the United States. While some of his lies may seem silly, nothing about the situation is amusing. This article will focus not on Santos's faulty resume and trivial fabrications, but instead on his campaign finance issues and the impact that the election has had on Santos's constituents.
Campaign Finance
George Santos's campaign spending is confusing for a multitude of reasons. He spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for personal use, but his records still leave the Federal Election Committee (FEC) and the American people with many questions. Santos spent campaign funds for personal vacations, including hotels in Palm Beach and Las Vegas. Even more troubling, however, is Santos's multiple payments of $199.99, totaling $250,000, to "Anonymous." These payments are extremely sketchy because politicians need to provide receipts for transactions over $200, so Santos was paying “Anonymous” in chunks to avoid disclosing the details of the payment.
The New York Times reviewed his campaign finance filings and found $365,399 of unexplained spending. For context, other New York politicians had zero to two percent of spending unexplained in their records, yet twelve percent of Santos's campaign funds are a mystery. While Santos did not necessarily break the law, failing to account for over $365,000 shows extreme disorganization at best.
Santos has amended his campaign's financial records 36 times, a process during which payments have increased or completely disappeared. Some supporters say that their contributions were misrepresented and that they received letters from the FEC accusing them of violating campaign finance laws by donating too much money to one candidate. The New York Times interviewed donor Andrew Intrater, who has a baffling story.
Mr. Intrater donated $175,000 to Rise NY PAC, a voter registration organization that, unbeknownst to him, was run by Santos's campaign treasurer - the Representative's sister. Furthermore, the PAC only reported an $80,000 donation to the state (the PAC has since updated its reports). Mr. Inrator also donated $25,000 to RedStone, an organization that failed to register with the FEC and had the same address as Santos's campaign headquarters. Many donors have suffered similar situations, unsure of how Santos used their money.
Santos's lawyer denies any campaign finance misuse in the past year, explaining, "the only time during which money was being unwisely spent by the campaign was by a firm that was fired approximately one year before Election Day." He further defended Santos by declaring, "campaign expenditures for staff members including travel, lodging, and meals are normal expenses of any competent campaign. The suggestion that the Santos campaign engaged in any unlawful spending of campaign funds is irresponsible, at best."
Santos's campaign finance problems persisted beyond the 2022 election. So far, he has received over $5,000 for his 2024 campaign. According to the FEC, Santos must either disavow the contributions or declare his reelection campaign by March 14. Additionally, Rio de Janeiro court records show that Santos was under investigation for embezzlement in Brazil in 2011. The charges were archived in 2013 as Santos did not appear on his court dates, and the court could not track him down. Santos denies that he was in any legal trouble.
Image courtesy of BBC
New York's Response
New York politicians are furious with their new colleague and do not trust his judgment. Assemblymember Charles Levine said that Santos's scandals make him "a congressional representative in name only," as his constituents cannot take their Representative seriously. Two New York Democrats have asked House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to prevent Santos from reading classified materials. New York State Senator Kevin Thomas announced that he will give constituent concerns to Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand. Their offices may take longer to respond, but Thomas does not trust Santos. He explained, "How can I possibly send a kid who wants to go to the military academy… to a congressperson who has the reputation that he has?" Thomas also cited security concerns, saying that "Given [Santos's] history… I would be afraid to send over a constituent giving their passport information over to that office."
Santos has stepped down from his committees but plans to return once the investigations are over. He says that his decision has nothing to do with the accuracy of accusations, stating, "it is important that I primarily focus on serving the constituents of New York's Third Congressional District and providing federal level representation without distraction."
Santos represents a district of almost 750,000 constituents. A Siena College poll reports that 78 percent of Santos's constituents want him to resign, but Santos says that they will have to wait until the 2024 elections. The Representative has completely broken his constituents' faith in the American political system. Many Santos donors and voters feel betrayed – the man they met on the campaign trail is nothing like the politician in the halls of Congress. In 2023, a lying politician is not newsworthy. However, a Representative whose life history is in question is unprecedented and damaging to the United States. It is unclear who is to blame for George Santos's election, but it is certainly not the fault of deceived voters. Hopefully the FEC will clear up some questions, but it cannot fix the betrayal of voters in New York State's 3rd District.