Newly-elected Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is denying the allegations of a disabled veteran who mentioned the truth-challenged congressman scammed him out of $3,000 that was meant for his service canine’s lifesaving surgical procedure.
On Tuesday, U.S. Navy veteran Richard Osthoff told Patch that in 2016, he was homeless and looking for a strategy to fund surgical procedure so his canine, Sapphire, might have a tumor faraway from its abdomen.
A lab tech helped join Osthoff with Santos, who was operating a charity known as Friends of Pets United underneath the identify “Antony Devolder.”
Osthoff told NBC News that Santos’ group arrange a GoFundMe web page that raised $3,000 for the surgical procedure, however then the longer term congressman stopped responding to calls.
Osthoff mentioned he by no means acquired any cash from the charity and had “to panhandle” to pay for Sapphire to be euthanized and cremated.
On Thursday, Santos took to Twitter and mentioned: “The reports that I would let a dog die is shocking & insane. My work in animal advocacy was the labor of love & hard work.”
He continued, “over the past 24hr, I have received pictures of dogs I helped rescue throughout the years along with supportive messages,” earlier than including a promise: ”These distractions gained’t cease me!”
However, contemplating the animal charity rip-off allegations come when Santos is dealing with a number of federal and native investigations for fabricating his background and marketing campaign finance violations, it’s no surprise Twitter customers had been skeptical of his claims of innocence.