He asked for unemployment benefits while he had an income of millions and ran an election campaign. Now George Santos can weaken the Republicans’ control in Congress.
On Wednesday, Congressman George Santos turned himself in to police in New York. One storjurystorjuryA jury that decides whether there are grounds for indicting a suspect. has found that the police have grounds to charge him with 13 crimes.
He must defend himself against accusations ranging from social security fraud, via money laundering to stealing election campaign funds.
He himself denies that he has broken the law. A few hours after the indictment became known, he said he was preparing to fight for re-election.
Until now, Congressman George Santos has had lukewarm support from his Republican colleagues. He is important for them to retain control in the House of Representatives.
If he is imprisoned or has to resign, it will take a lot for a party member to win the new election. In autumn 2022, he surprisingly won a traditionally democratic electoral district. If the Republicans lose the district, their majority shrinks to 221 to 214.
Long history of lies and deception
34-year-old George Anthony Devolder Santos has a long career on the wrong side of the law. After his story was uncovered by the media, many have wondered why he was not exposed before the November 2022 election.
He has systematically lied about both his own background and his family’s history. He lied about his Jewish background. What he has claimed about schooling, from high school to university, is also fabrication. Similarly, he lied about prestigious jobs on Wall Street.
Claimed unemployment benefits
Grand Jury’s indictment is on 19 pages. The lies about family background, education and jobs are not punishable. But the public prosecutor has been given much else to work with.
When the pandemic hit the United States full force in March 2020, Santos was working for an investment firm in Florida. The salary must have been over one million kroner a year. Due to the pandemic, an additional unemployment benefit was introduced.
Santos applied for Social Security in New York, while working in Florida. Every week for a little over a year he confirmed that he still needed the money. In total, he received a quarter of a million kroner.
At the same time, he campaigned for Congress, hoping to represent a constituency in New York. The grand jury believes that he pocketed election campaign contributions. Also, he lied about his finances in the documents all candidates must submit to Congress.
He lost the election in the fall of 2020. In the first round, he ruled as Donald Trump, claiming that the election victory was stolen from him. He had no proof.
Won the election
Santos launched a new election campaign almost immediately. With the help of a hired consultant, he raised money. They contacted potential donors. The story they told about how much each individual could give, and the legal framework surrounding the election campaign organization, was largely a lie.
The supporters were tricked into giving more money than they are allowed. This resulted in several gifts of up to NOK 250,000.
Instead of buying TV advertising and election campaign posters, a large part of the money went to luxury consumption.
Unlike in 2020, he won the 2022 election. On January 7, 2023, he was sworn in as a congressional representative.
Protected by their own
One of the first things he did as a member of Congress was to support Kevin McCarthy through the 15 rounds of voting required to elect a leader of Congress.
By then Santos had already been exposed as a liar. But McCarthy rewarded him anyway with positions on important committees. Later, Santos has “temporarily” withdrawn from these positions.
When the indictment became known on Wednesday, the party leadership was quick to state that everyone is innocent until the contrary is proven and the verdict has been passed. They also emphasized that he has been removed from all committee positions, write Fox News.
Santos’ party colleagues are working to get approval for a law that will toughen the penalties for social security fraud. The party leadership says that the fight continues.
2023-05-10 20:54:59
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