Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) continues to face calls to resign, however a number of of the Republicans telling him to step down beforehand accepted contributions from his management PAC and haven’t stated whether or not they are going to return the cash.
There’s ordinarily nothing uncommon about candidates exchanging cash between PACs and marketing campaign committees, as long as the quantities fall inside legally established limits. Santos acquired hundreds from different candidates and used his management PAC to donate generously to greater than two dozen Republicans in 2021 and 2022, marketing campaign finance information present.
At least four of those Republicans — New York Reps. Mike Lawler, Nick LaLota and Brandon Williams, and Ohio Rep. Max Miller — not too long ago referred to as on Santos to resign over revelations that he largely fabricated the resume he offered to voters in New York’s third Congressional District. Santos has been defiant within the wake of the controversy, admitting to some lies but additionally refusing to step down.
HuffPost tried to contact lots of the Republicans who accepted cash from Santos and are at present serving within the House, asking what they deliberate to do with the cash. None responded as of Friday.
Santos launched the PAC shortly after his first failed congressional bid in 2020, and seeded the fund with a private mortgage, information present.
While Santos donated to many dropping candidates, he additionally gave to present GOP House members Elise Stefanik and Claudia Tenney of New York, Harriet Hageman of Wyoming, Carol Miller of West Virginia, Mary Miller of Illinois, Cory Mills and Maria Salazar of Florida, and Pat Fallon, Ronny Jackson and Beth Van Duyne of Texas.
Campaign finance consultants instructed HuffPost they couldn’t discover something uncommon or suspicious in the best way that Santos ran his GADS PAC — an acronym for his full title, George Anthony Devolder-Santos. The similar can’t be stated of Santos’ marketing campaign committee, nevertheless, which was the topic of a scathing civil grievance directed to the Federal Election Commission Monday by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.
If something, Santos’ relationship with different Republicans underscores how freely cash can move between candidates and out of doors entities because the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court resolution loosened the principles round marketing campaign fundraising.
“Leadership PACs were set up so that members of Congress who were vying for leadership positions could show their support for the party by supporting other candidates and supporting other members. Now everybody has one,” Larry Noble, a former normal counsel for the FEC, instructed HuffPost.
AP Photo/Patrick Semansky
For instance, Miller’s and Santos’ PACs exchanged $5,000 within the final election cycle. The Ohio Republican additionally personally contributed $8,900 to Santos’ 2022 marketing campaign. Some 30 different Republicans additionally gave cash to Santos, whose district was thought of a pick-up alternative for Republicans within the midterm elections.
Miller, who’s from a distinguished Jewish household in Cleveland, stated Thursday that Santos lied to hunt “benefit from the murder of millions of Jewish people” by falsely claiming to be the descendent of Holocaust survivors.
Santos additionally gave $5,800 to defeated Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, $2,900 to Hageman and $10,800 to Stefanik’s “victory committee” — vital quantities for a political novice who, at that time, had solely run one dropping marketing campaign.
Stefanik’s marketing campaign didn’t reply to a request for remark in regards to the contribution, or whether or not Stefanik disapproves of Santos utilizing a picture of the two because the banner for his marketing campaign Twitter account. House Republican management, together with third-ranking Stefanik, haven’t referred to as on Santos to resign.
There is one side of Santos’ PAC that’s drawn scrutiny: the $25,000 that Santos personally loaned it in July 2021, a day earlier than the PAC wrote a test for the same amount to New York gubernatorial candidate and then-congressman Lee Zeldin. The Campaign Legal Center is asking the FEC to analyze the supply of Santos’ revenue, particularly because it considerations the $700,000 that Santos loaned his marketing campaign committee within the final election cycle. The $25,000 given to the PAC — which Santos repaid himself inside a 12 months — raises additional questions in regards to the supply of his sudden wealth.
“It doesn’t seem consistent with his own finances,” Erin Chlopak of the Campaign Legal Center instructed HuffPost of Santos’ windfall after previously claiming a modest income and no assets. “If you look at the timing of the creation of his LLC and the various inconsistencies with how he’s described it, there are questions about how it could have generated a legitimate income. He has essentially been unwilling to answer more questions to clarify those issues.“
The majority of the roughly $230,000 Santos’ PAC raised and spent in 2021 and 2022 came from a joint fundraising account that Santos shared with the Nassau County Republican Committee — which on Wednesday disowned Santos and called on him to resign.
Santos did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment. But he told Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida in an interview Thursday: “I’ve worked my entire life. I’ve lived an honest life … [the campaign money] didn’t come from Burisma, it didn’t come from Ukraine, Russia, China — unlike some folks we all know who get money from those sources.”
