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It’s been a couple of months since Rep. George Santos faced a round of unflattering headlines. In mid-June, for example, the New York Republican reluctantly disclosed the names of his bond cosigners — why he fought vehemently to hide anodyne information has never been clear — which came a day before the House Ethics Committee expanded its investigation into the scandal-plagued congressman.
The good news for Santos is that he managed to go nearly two months without new developments that made him look worse. The bad news for Santos is that the quiet period has come to a rather abrupt end. NBC News reported:
A man who was a paid campaign fundraiser for Rep. George Santos was indicted in New York on federal criminal charges related to his allegedly impersonating a top aide to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he solicited donations for Santos.
If this sounds at all familiar, it’s because this element of the larger scandal has been percolating for months. In fact, it was in January — literally just a few days into Santos’ congressional career — when CNBC reported that a member of the GOP lawmaker’s political team raised money for Santos’ 2022 campaign by impersonating McCarthy’s chief of staff.
I noted at the time that this raised the prospect of criminal charges, which, as it turns out, is exactly what’s happened.
According to the federal indictment, the Santos supporter in question is named Samuel Miele, and he allegedly sent a letter to Santos last September “in which he admitted to ‘faking my identity to a big donor,’ but stated that he was ‘high risk, high reward in everything I do.’”
As NBC News’ report added, Miele has been charged with four counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in the six-page unsealed indictment. His lawyer insisted that Miele is not guilty. (He was, incidentally, charged in the same New York court where Santos was also criminally charged with fraud, theft, money laundering, and making false statements.)
It’s likely, of course, that the lying congressman will say Miele’s criminal charges don’t reflect poorly on him directly, since Santos wasn’t the one who allegedly impersonated someone else. But complicating matters for the congressman is that this wasn’t the only piece of damaging news for him this week. The New York Times reported:
The filing of House financial disclosure reports each year is usually considered a routine affair. But for Representative George Santos of New York, who is facing 13 felony charges related to his finances, the matter has the potential to become yet another soap opera. Mr. Santos, a first-term Republican, missed the Aug. 13 deadline to file his disclosures, a lapse that could lead to fines. He had already received a 90-day extension from the initial deadline, which was May 15.
To be sure, these filings — designed to increase congressional transparency and provide a summary of lawmakers’ financial status — tend to be routine and uninteresting. But they also tend to exist.
In Santos’ case, the New York Republican has now missed two filing deadlines for undisclosed reasons.
The Times’ report added, “There has been considerable speculation about whether Mr. Santos’s financial disclosure might shed light on the source of the more than $700,000 he lent to his campaign.”
In fairness, it’s worth emphasizing that a handful of other members — from both parties — have also been late in filing their disclosure paperwork. The difference, of course, is that those other lawmakers aren’t currently under criminal indictment for fraud, theft, money laundering, and making false statements.
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