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      George Santos is a ‘sociopath’, fellow New York Republican congressman says

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      George Santos is a ‘sociopath’, fellow New York Republican congressman saysNick LaLota is one of a growing number of people from both parties to call on Santos to quit over made-up résumé and investigations00:28George Santos is a “sociopath” who thrives on negative attention, another New York Republican congressman said.‘You don’t belong here’: Romney and Santos in tense State of Union exchangeRead more“He’s a sociopath,” Nick LaLota told CNN on Wednesday, after Santos’s confrontation with Mitt Romney at Joe Biden’s State of the Union address made headlines the night before.“He looks for that attention. Even the negative attention drives him. It’s become an embarrassment and a distraction to the Republicans in the House.“And every time I have to come to something like this and talk about George Santos, I can’t talk about what Republicans ought to be doing instead.”Santos later told reporters Romney’s remarks were “reprehensible” and said the senator’s behaviour “wasn’t very Mormon”.Romney, a senator from Utah, is a member of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. Santos claimed to have Jewish grandparents who escaped the Holocaust, a lie repeatedly exposed.The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “sociopathic” as “of, relating to, or characterised by asocial or antisocial behavior or exhibiting antisocial personality disorder”.LaLota was elected to Congress in New York’s first district last November, while Santos won in the third.Since then, Santos’s résumé has been shown to be largely made-up, his often bizarre past behaviour exposed and his campaign finance filings investigated.The congressman is also the subject of allegations of criminal behaviour, including a sexual harassment claim leveled by a former congressional aide.The 34-year-old has admitted embellishing his résumé but denied wrongdoing and repeatedly said he will not resign.LaLota is among a growing number of Republicans, Democrats and constituents who have called on Santos to quit. Party leaders accepted Santos’s withdrawal from committee assignments but have not said he should resign.Santos supported the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, through 15 rounds of voting for the position, against a far-right rebellion.Members of Congress often resign amid scandal but very few are reprimanded, censured or expelled. The last of only five members ever expelled was James Traficant Jr, an Ohio Democrat removed in 2002 after being convicted of crimes including obstruction of justice and racketeering.On Tuesday night, ahead of Biden’s speech, Santos positioned himself near the centre aisle of the House chamber as senators entered.He was seen to exchange words with Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who is now a senator from Utah.Romney later told a scrum of reporters: “I didn’t expect that he’d be standing there trying to shake hands with every senator and the president of the United States.“Given the fact that he’s under ethics investigation, he should be sitting in the back row and staying quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room.”Romney called Santos a “sick puppy” and said he told the New Yorker he “shouldn’t be in Congress … if he had any shame at all, he wouldn’t be there”.Asked if he was disappointed McCarthy had not called on Santos to resign, Romney said: “Yes.”New add to George Santos’s résumé: producer on Spider-Man musicalRead moreRomney said he didn’t hear what Santos said to him. Santos claimed Romney told him he was an “ass” and to have retorted that the senator was “a much bigger asshole”. He also taunted Romney, tweeting “a reminder that you will NEVER BE PRESIDENT!”On Wednesday, Santos told reporters: “It’s not the first time in history that I’ve been told to shut up and go to the back of the room, especially by people who come from a privileged background.“I’m never gonna shut up and go to the back of the room. I think it’s reprehensible the senator would say such a thing to me … it wasn’t very Mormon of him.”LaLota told CNN: “Mitt Romney is right on this one. I’ve been clear on George Santos for months now. He does not deserve to be in Congress. He’s all about the rhetoric, he’s all about the drama, and he’s fallen far below the standard that we all should hold ourselves to.”TopicsGeorge SantosRepublicansUS CongressNew YorkUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      'You ought to be embarrassed': Mitt Romney exchanges heated words with George Santos – video

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      The Republican senator Mitt Romney appeared to confront congressman George Santos before Joe Biden was due to deliver his State of Union address on Tuesday. Though his remarks were not audible, Romney clearly told Santos that he ‘ought to be embarrassed’ several times. Later Romney told reporters that Santos did not ‘belong here [in Congress]’ and called him a ‘sick puppy’ 

      ‘You don’t belong here’: Romney and Santos in tense State of Union exchange
      Dozens of George Santos’s constituents call for his resignation at US Capitol
      George Santos accused of sexual harassment by congressional aide More

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      George Santos accused of sexual harassment by congressional aide

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      George Santos accused of sexual harassment by congressional aideDerek Myers alleges he was put to work as a volunteer before controversial Republican touched him and asked him over The embattled New York Republican congressman George Santos has been accused of sexual harassment by a former aide.George Santos’s lies are so big you almost have to admire them | Emma BrockesRead moreSantos already faces local, state, federal and international investigations over professional and personal behaviour, campaign finance filings and a campaign résumé shown to be largely made-up.He has admitted embellishing his résumé but denied wrongdoing and said he will not resign, as members of his own party and Democrats have repeatedly urged him to do.Republican leaders who must govern with a slim House majority have stood by him, though he has withdrawn from two committees.On Friday, the former aide, Derek Myers, published on Twitter a letter to the House ethics committee in which he claimed to have been put to work in Santos’s office as a volunteer, in violation of ethics rules, and to have been harassed.“Today,” he wrote, “I filed a police report with Capitol police and a complaint with the House ethics committee regarding ethical violations and sexual harassment by Congressman George Santos during my time working in his office.Myers added: “These matters will not be litigated on social media or through news media. They are serious offenses and the evidence and facts will speak for themselves if the committee takes up the matter. This tweet is being made public in light of transparency.”In his letter, Myers wrote that he was “alone with the congressman” in his personal office on 25 January, going over constituents’ mail.“The congressman earlier in the day had asked me if I had a Grindr profile,” Myers wrote, “which is widely known as an LGBTQ+ social networking app, more commonly used for sexual intercourse”.Santos told him he had a profile, he said.In the personal office, Myers alleged, Santos “called me ‘buddy’ and insisted I sit next to him on a small sofa”.The congressman, Myers said, put a hand on his knee and asked if he wanted to go out to karaoke. Myers said he declined, whereupon Santos moved his hand to Myers’ inner thigh and groin.Myers alleged Santos said: “My husband is out of town tonight if you want to come over.” Myers said he pushed Santos away and left the office.Five days later, he wrote, he was asked, as he had been during his hiring process, about his background as a journalist in Ohio, where he faced wiretapping charges after publishing recorded court testimony. The next day, Myers says, he was “informed that my job offer was being rescinded”.The New York Times reported that a spokesperson for the ranking Democrat on the House ethics committee acknowledged receipt of Myers’ letter. The paper said Capitol police did not confirm receipt of a report.Santos’s lawyer declined to comment, the paper said.On Thursday, Santos told Semafor he did not hire Myers because of the Ohio charges. Santos’s chief of staff said the same to Talking Points Memo (TPM), to which Myers gave a recording of the conversation with Santos in which he was let go.Santos said Myers’ charges in Ohio were “not concerning to us, it’s concerning to this institution”. Myers told TPM that as Santos spoke, he was “thinking to myself, ‘I’m a threat and concern to this institution – George Santos, you’re George Santos!’”TopicsGeorge SantosRepublicansUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      New add to George Santos’s résumé: producer on Spider-Man musical

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      New add to George Santos’s résumé: producer on Spider-Man musicalReports emerge that the embattled New York congressman told donors of his role, which the lead producer denies Just as it seemed the well of bizarre stories about George Santos might have begun to run dry, it was reported on Friday that the New York Republican congressman told potential donors he was a producer on the notoriously ill-fated Spider-Man musical.George Santos’s lies are so big you almost have to admire them | Emma BrockesRead moreBloomberg News said: “The lead producer, Michael Cohl, denied Santos’s involvement, saying through an assistant that [Santos] wasn’t a producer on the musical. Santos’s name also never appeared in the playbills for the show.”Santos and his lawyers did not immediately comment.Santos, 34, won election to Congress in New York’s third district in November. Since then, he has been consumed by revelations about his largely made-up educational and professional résumé; disproven claims about his family history including supposed links to the Holocaust and 9/11; allegations of criminal behaviour; and even reports that he once appeared as a drag queen in Brazil.He has admitted embellishing his résumé but denied wrongdoing and said he will not resign from Congress, which Republicans in his district and state and many leading Democrats have repeatedly demanded.Amid investigations at the local, state, federal and international levels – including of his campaign finance filings, personal wealth and business activities under a different name, Anthony Devolder – Santos this week stepped down from two committees to which he was named by Republican leaders.He said he wanted to “focus on serving the constituents of New York’s third congressional district and providing federal level representation without distraction”.That seems unlikely.Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark featured ambitious stagecraft and songs by U2’s Bono and the Edge but was badly reviewed and never trouble-free, including a number of performers suffering injuries. Its Broadway run lasted from 2011 to 2014, when it closed with losses of millions of dollars.Bloomberg noted that during the time the musical was on Broadway, Santos went from living in Brazil to working at a call centre in Queens and founding a charity to raise money for sick animals that is now being investigated after a military veteran accused Santos of absconding with money raised for his dog.The dog died. Santos denies the claim.Santos remains in the House as a valuable vote for Kevin McCarthy, the Republican speaker who must work with a narrow majority. Santos doggedly supported McCarthy through 15 votes for the position of speaker early last month.On Thursday night, meanwhile, a recording emerged of Santos firing an aide who had been on staff a little more than a week.The aide, Dan Myers, was previously a reporter in Ohio who faced criminal charges for publishing recorded legal testimony.Experience: I fell 30ft dressed as Spider-ManRead moreIn Myers’s recorded exchange with Santos, the congressman boasted about messaging with a CNN host.“Don Lemon just texted me – I’m sorry, I’m listening to you – Don Lemon just texted me!” Santos said.He also discussed the merits and costs of Botox treatments before saying Myers’s past problems in Ohio were “not concerning to us, it’s concerning to this institution”.Myers gave the recording to Talking Points Memo. He told the website that as Santos spoke, he was “thinking to myself, ‘I’m a threat and concern to this institution –George Santos, you’re George Santos!’”TopicsGeorge SantosUS CongressUS politicsnewsReuse this content More

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      George Santos’s lies are so big you almost have to admire them | Emma Brockes

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      George Santos’s lies are so big you almost have to admire themEmma BrockesThe New York congressman’s increasingly wild claims have all the thrill-seeking of a man running across a football field naked In retrospect, as it often seems to go in these cases, the evidence appears to have been so glaringly obvious, it’s a wonder we were ever taken in. George Santos – like Anna Sorokin, the “fake heiress” – even had the Scooby-Doo, black-rimmed glasses that might have come from a joke shop selling disguises. When the representative for New York’s third congressional district entered the House last November, he was briefly notable as the Republican’s first openly gay non-incumbent to win a seat.Now, his fame resides elsewhere. So wild and untrustworthy have statements made by Santos proved to be – Did his granny really survive the Holocaust? Was his mother’s death really related to 9/11? Did he ever appear in a movie alongside Uma Thurman? – that it would come as no surprise, at this stage, to discover that rather than a 34-year-old man, Santos is actually four children piled on top of each other beneath a trenchcoat.The fascinating thing about Santos, and other practitioners of these kinds of fabrications, is how easily disprovable their falsehoods turn out to be. If compulsive lying has its roots in something deeper and more complicated than mere self-advancement, you assume the risk-taking is part of the appeal. Psychologically, Santos’s claims appear akin in scale, impulse and thrill-seeking to a man running across a football field naked, each more lurid and exposing than the last.Let’s start with the small stuff, like where he went to school and what year he graduated. Per Santos’s claims, he attended Horace Mann, a prestigious private school in the Bronx (a representative of the school told CNN it had no record of him ever attending).After school, Santos claims he studied at Baruch College in New York, graduating with a degree in economics and finance in 2010. (Baruch College has no record of him graduating that year.) He claims to have gone on to study for an MBA at New York University (no record), to have worked on Wall Street for Goldman Sachs (no record) and Citigroup (no record). All of these lies were itemised in a comprehensive list in New York magazine last week, with citations for where Santos made the claim and where it was later rebutted.The New York Times, meanwhile, has also handily uploaded a copy of Santos’s two-page CV, which even in the weeds between his biggest tent-pole lies, will make your own CV claim to be “fluent in French” look like a modest inflation.George Santos withdraws from House committees amid spiraling scandalRead moreAnd that’s just the professional stuff. The personal fabrications are, if possible, even weirder in their overreach. Santos appears to have the recognisable, attention-seeking syndrome of claiming association with historical events that on closer inspection he had nothing to do with. His claim to be of Jewish heritage and have grandparents who survived the Holocaust has been thoroughly debunked, as has the claim he made on Twitter in 2021 that his mother was in the South Tower of the World Trade Center on 9/11. (Evidence suggests that, in fact, his mother, Fatima Devolder, was in Brazil in September 2001.)He has claimed, simultaneously, to own property in Brazil worth up to $1m, to own 13 rental properties – no record of these properties has so far been found – and to own no property at all and be living with his sister. The claims and reversals have reached a pitch so chaotic that it’s tempting to regard Santos as a conman approaching the level of satirist.And yet. Before we get carried away by the sheer entertainment value of all this, it’s worth reminding ourselves that beneath the improbably fanciful claims, there are suggestions of extremely banal, entirely predictable and straightforwardly self-interested financial impropriety on Santos’s part, all of which are now being investigated by federal prosecutors. A complaint has been filed with the Federal Election Commission about his alleged misuse of campaign funds, and the source of that funding, which is also under criminal investigation by the Department of Justice. And, less than a month after being sworn in, there are, of course, calls for the man to resign. Meanwhile, the most Santos has admitted to is “embellishing” his résumé.It’s a serious thing to mislead the electorate and lie to members of Congress, with a much more damaging fallout than the lies of a fake heiress trying to score a free holiday. Still, in both cases, the fascination with the workings of compulsive liars is the same. Scrutinising photos of Santos’s blank and babyish face triggers the vertiginous possibility inherent in all really big grifts – and one, possibly, deserving of sympathy, although who knows – that he has come to believe all this stuff himself.
      Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist based in New York

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      George Santos withdraws from House committees amid spiraling scandal

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      George Santos withdraws from House committees amid spiraling scandalNew York Republican congressman under investigation over his largely made-up résumé and current campaign finance filings The Republican congressman George Santos has temporarily withdrawn from two House committees to which he was appointed by party leaders despite a spiraling scandal over his largely made-up résumé, bizarre past behavior and campaign finance filings.Donald Trump sues Bob Woodward over The Trump Tapes for $50mRead moreExplaining his decision, Santos said he wanted to “focus on serving the constituents of New York’s third congressional district and providing federal level representation without distraction”.Critics would argue Santos has provided plenty of distraction since winning his seat in November.Earlier this month, the House speaker, Kevin McCarthy, appointed Santos to the committees on small business and science, space and technology.The speaker did so despite confirming that a member of staff for Santos pretended to be McCarthy’s chief of staff while seeking campaign donations.But that was hardly the biggest news of Santos’s first month in Congress.Found to have largely fabricated his educational and professional résumé, Santos has denied or deflected reports about past conduct including an alleged fraud of a homeless veteran seeking medical care for his dog and appearances as a drag queen in Brazil, where he is also being investigated over alleged use of a stolen chequebook.Santos is under local, state and federal investigation in the US. Last week it emerged that the congressman, who has also been known as Anthony Devolder, faces a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice over campaign finance filings that have prompted questions about the source of his wealth and a possible link to a Russian oligarch.Santos’s district party and other New York Republicans have been joined by New York and national Democrats in calling for Santos to quit. Polling in the third district shows nearly 80% of voters there now think he should do so.But if he did, prompting a special election, McCarthy would face further erosion of an already slender majority.Before being sworn in, Santos backed McCarthy through 15 rounds of voting for speaker as the far right of the party rebelled. Since then, McCarthy and other party leaders have repeatedly said Santos should not resign.Santos has admitted “embellishing” his résumé but repeatedly denied wrongdoing, bemoaned the tone of media coverage and said he will not step down.News of his decision to step back from committee assignments came out of a closed-door party meeting on Capitol Hill on Tuesday morning.Multiple news outlets cited an unnamed source as saying the New Yorker told fellow Republicans he had become “a distraction”.McCarthy told reporters: “I met with George Santos yesterday and I think it was an appropriate decision that until he could clear everything up, he’s off committees right now … We had a discussion and he asked me if he could do that.”In a statement, Santos’s office said: “He is recusing himself until he is cleared. Please note that his seat will be reserved until the congressman has been cleared of both campaign and personal financial investigations.”In a subsequent personal statement, Santos said: “With the ongoing attention surrounding both my personal and campaign financial investigations, I have submitted a request to Speaker McCarthy that I be temporarily recused from my committee assignments until I am cleared.“This was a decision that I take very seriously. The business of the 118th Congress must continue without media fanfare. 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 also thanked McCarthy “for meeting with me to discuss the matter and allowing me to take time to properly clear my name”.Republicans greeted Santos’s withdrawals.Marc Molinaro, another freshman from New York, told Politico: “The decision to not serve on committees is in his and our best interest. As I said, I think he should resign and focus on his defense. But I do welcome this decision.”Don Bacon of Nebraska, a Republican moderate, told the same outlet Santos “apologised and said he was going to recuse himself … for now. He just said he recused himself for a while and then he’ll come back”.‘We don’t know his real name’: George Santos’s unravelling web of liesRead moreMarjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, both a leading rightwing extremist and a solid McCarthy ally, told reporters Santos “asked that we all support him when everything settles down for him to serve on committees”.Pete Aguilar of California, the Democratic caucus chair, told reporters he was “struck by the chaos, confusion, dysfunction of the Republican conference.“They defended putting him on committees and now they’re announcing that he’s not going to serve on a committee, so I don’t understand what the play of the day is. We have said from the beginning that George Santos is not fit to serve on any committees.”Republicans, he said, were defending “someone who only has a passing relation to the truth”.Among media responses to Santos’s withdrawal, Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, plumped for satire.“George Santos has stepped aside (with a push or two),” Sabato wrote. “… Is that any way to treat the founder of Walmart and the inventor of the iPhone?”TopicsHouse of RepresentativesRepublicansGeorge SantosUS politicsKevin McCarthynewsReuse this content More

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      Democrats urge McCarthy to deny George Santos access to classified data

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      Democrats urge McCarthy to deny George Santos access to classified dataCongressman, under intense scrutiny for largely fabricated résumé, a ‘significant risk’ to national security, letter says Two House Democrats have written to Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy demanding he deny New York congressman George Santos any opportunity to access classified information because he might be a “significant risk” to US national security.“We urge you to act swiftly to prevent George Santos from abusing his position and endangering our nation,” the two New York congressmen said.‘We don’t know his real name’: George Santos’s unravelling web of liesRead moreJoe Morelle and Gregory Meeks, published their letter to McCarthy on Wednesday.They wrote: “It is clear that Congressman George Santos has violated the public’s trust on various occasions and his unfettered access to our nation’s secrets presents a significant risk to the national security of this country.”Morelle and Meeks said “numerous concerning allegations” about Santos’s “behaviour over decades put his character into question and suggest he cannot be trusted with confidential and classified information that could threaten the United States’ national security”.McCarthy, they said, should therefore “limit to the greatest degree possible Congressman George Santos’s ability to access classified materials, including preventing him from attending any confidential or classified briefings for the foreseeable future”.McCarthy, however, said he would not take immediate action against Santos.The speaker has already named Santos to two committees, small business and science, space and technology. They are not prestigious panels but access to classified information is a hot topic in Washington, amid revelations that records were improperly retained by Donald Trump, Mike Pence and Joe Biden.Santos, 34, won election in Queens and Long Island in November but has come under enormous scrutiny over his largely made-up résumé, bizarre past conduct and suspect campaign finance filings.Amid a stream of reports and revelations, Santos has been revealed to be under investigation at local, state and federal levels and even in Brazil – where is alleged to have competed as a drag queen – over the use of a stolen chequebook.The scandal has grown so bizarre and labyrinthine that when asked to discuss precedents, the Princeton historian Sean Wilentz told Vox it would be better to look to literature, whether The Confidence-Man by Herman Melville or to the “kind of nothing man that drips all through the novels” of John Le Carré.On Wednesday a former roommate, Yasser Rabello, told Curbed about his experiences living in a small apartment with Santos, his mother, his sister, his boyfriend and a friend in 2013 and 2014. Santos was then known as Anthony Devolder, an identity now the subject of extensive reporting.Rabello said Santos/Devolder “said he was a reporter at Globo in Brazil” but “was home all day on his computer, just browsing the web, probably chatting with people”.He also said Santos claimed to be a model who “worked at New York Fashion Week and that he met all the Victoria’s Secret models and would be in Vogue magazine”.Amid ceaseless reporting and delighted mockery on national late-night TV, Republicans in Santos’s district and from other New York seats have joined Democrats in calling for Santos to resign.But though he has admitted “embellishing” his résumé, the congressman has denied wrongdoing and said he will not quit.Republican leaders continue to stand by their man.Santos backed McCarthy through 15 votes for speaker, a role McCarthy must now perform with a slim majority and under constant threat from rightwing rebels.On Wednesday, McCarthy said that was not why he had refused to tell Santos to go.“No,” he told reporters at the Capitol. “You know why I’m standing by him? Because his constituents voted for him. I do not have the power simply because if I disagree with somebody or what they have said that I remove them from elected office.”McCarthy and other House Republican leaders have repeatedly said allegations against Santos are a matter for the House ethics committee, even as they continue to attempt to gut the ethics process.McCarthy said on Wednesday: “If for some way when we go through ethics [it is found] that he has broken the law, then we will remove him, but it’s not my role. I believe in the rule of law. A person’s innocent until proven guilty.”Daniel Goldman and Ritchie Torres, two New York Democrats, have led calls for an investigation of Santos’s campaign finance filings, calls echoed by outside watchdog groups amid questions over the sources of Santos’s wealth and reports of links to a Russian oligarch and a company found to be a Ponzi scheme.TopicsRepublicansUS politicsKevin McCarthyGeorge SantosnewsReuse this content More

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      George Santos admits ‘personal’ loans to campaign were not from personal funds

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      George Santos admits ‘personal’ loans to campaign were not from personal fundsNew campaign finance filings reported by Daily Beast do not shed light on real source of $600,000 in funding In a new twist to one of the most bizarre American political scandals in decades, the New York Republican congressman George Santos appeared to admit on Tuesday that more than $600,000 in loans to his campaign did not come from personal funds, as was originally claimed.‘We don’t know his real name’: George Santos’s unravelling web of liesRead moreBut new campaign finance filings first reported by the Daily Beast did not shed light on where the funds actually came from.One expert said he had “never been this confused” by a campaign finance form.Santos, 34, won election to Congress last year in New York’s third district, which covers parts of Long Island and Queens.But he swiftly came under pressure over a résumé which has been shown to be largely made-up; local, state, federal and international investigations; and increasingly picaresque allegations and revelations including an alleged past as a drag queen in Brazil.Republican House leaders have stood by him, however, not least because he supported Kevin McCarthy through 15 rounds of voting for speaker earlier this month, a process which installed the Californian atop a slim GOP majority prey to hard-right rebels. Last week, Santos was installed on two House committees.As well as joining New York Republicans in calling for Santos to quit, Democrats have demanded investigation of Santos’s campaign finance filings.This week, the saga continued at a familiar pitch as Santos complained about impersonations on late-night TV – a sure sign of fame, or infamy, in the American public square.“I have now been enshrined in late-night TV history with all these impersonations,” the congressman tweeted on Monday, “but they are all TERRIBLE so far.“Jon Lovitz is supposed to be one of the greatest comedians of all time and that was embarrassing – for him not me! These comedians need to step their game up.”Lovitz, who impersonated Santos on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, responded: “Thanks the review and advice! You’re right! I do need to step my game up! My pathological liar character can’t hold a candle to you!”It was also reported on Monday that Santos once claimed to be the target of an assassination attempt, and that in a 2020 interview he claimed to have met Jeffrey Epstein, while suggesting the financier and sex offender did not kill himself in jail but was murdered or even alive.On Tuesday morning, Santos promised a surprise to reporters staking out his office in Congress – then served them coffee and donuts.Later, the Beast reported on weightier matters, spotting that on new campaign finance filings, a $500,000 loan was no longer listed as “personal funds of the candidate”, as was another for $125,000.The Beast said no indication was given as to where the loans actually came from.Amid questions about his apparent wealth, Santos has been linked to a Russian oligarch. It has also been reported that he was once hired by a Florida-based investment firm that was accused by the Securities and Exchange Commission of being a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.Santos previously told a New York radio host the loans were “the money I paid myself” through his company, the Devolder Organization.Santos’s activities under the name Anthony Devolder are also the subject of intense scrutiny.He has admitted “embellishing” his résumé but denied wrongdoing. He has said he will not resign.Speaking to the New York Times, a lawyer for Santos, Joe Murray, said it “would be inappropriate” to comment on the new filings, because of pending investigations.Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington or Crew, a watchdog group, told the Times: “I have never been this confused looking at an [Federal Election Commission] filing.”Brendan Fischer, deputy executive director of Documented, another watchdog, told the Beast: “I don’t know what they think they are doing.“Santos’ campaign might have unchecked the ‘personal funds of candidate’ box, but it is still reporting that the $500,000 came from Santos himself.“If the ‘loan from candidate’ didn’t actually come from the candidate, then Santos should come clean and disclose where the money really came from. Santos can’t uncheck a box and make his legal problems go away.”TopicsGeorge SantosUS politicsUS political financingRepublicansUS CongressHouse of RepresentativesNew YorknewsReuse this content More