Republican liar George Santos receives FIRST official ethics complaint

A formal complaint has been filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Rep. George Santos for numerous campaign finance violations.

In a civil lawsuit filed Monday, the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center (CLC) accused the New York Republican of illegally using campaign funds for personal expenses, including paying rent, and concealing the origin of the $700,000 Santos borrowed for his campaign would have.

In 2022, Santos said he loaned his campaign $705,000 from his personal wealth. CLC asked how Santos could have accumulated such a stash.

“It’s far from clear how he could have done this on his own terms, as financial reports show that Santos had only $55,000 to his name in 2020,4 and his claims of making millions of dollars in 2021 and 2022 , of an alleged consulting firm he founded in May 2021, Devolder Organization LLC (“Devolder LLC”), are vague, unverified and not credible given his many previous lies.

A formal complaint has been filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against Rep. George Santos for numerous campaign finance violations

The complaint says circumstances indicate that Devolder was used to illegally funnel funds for Santos’ campaign. The FEC complaint said the possible scheme could involve foreign electoral interference.

“The hidden true source behind $705,000 in donations to Santos’ campaign could be a corporation or a foreigner – both are categorically barred from donating to federal candidates.”

Santos has admitted in interviews to having “embellished” his resume and education history.

The complaint also addressed dozens of expenses that Santos listed on his campaign list as $199.99 – just a penny below the $200 threshold when the FEC requires itemization.

CLC raised suspicions that the Santos campaign had reported a bill for exactly $199.99 at Il Bacco Restaurante in Little Neck, New York, on seven separate occasions.

The campaign reported five different Uber rides that conveniently cost $199.99, four different Delta airline flights, and three separate Best Buy purchases that totaled the same thing.

On October 13, 2021, Santos reported a $199.99 hotel stay at Miami’s W Hotel South Beach, but the cheapest hotel room available for a midweek stay this week is over $700.

The campaign also reported a $199.99 parking fee at JFK Airport in New York, but there is no combination of fees at this parking garage that would end at $99.99. A fee of $199.99 has been reported for CLEAR’s airport identity verification, but CLEAR’s standard annual membership is $189.28.

CLC notes that Santos listed six expenses totaling $13,500 listed as “housing rent for staff,” but a New York Times report revealed that Santos himself had lived there.

“A neighbor said Santos himself had lived there for months, and two others said they saw Santos and his husband come and go,” the Times reported.

A Santos spokesman declined to comment on the new complaint.

Meanwhile, a former adviser to Trump strategist Steve Bannon is said to be joining Santos’ Capitol Hill staff.

Vish Burra, who worked as a producer on Bannon’s War Room podcast, will join the Santos staff as operations director, according to Newsday.

Burra is also executive director of the New York Young Republicans Club, which hosted Santos last month, per Newsday, to a gala alongside Georgia MP Marjorie Taylor Greene and members of Austria’s far-right Freedom Party, which was founded by a former Nazi SS officer .