First-term Congressman George Santos, who faces 23 federal charges and a mounting expulsion effort in the U.S. House.Photo:Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
The House Ethics Committee is not the first to accuse Santos of stealing campaign money — he was hit with a23-count federal indictmentthis year thattells a similar narrative, featuring a variety of theft and fraud charges involving his congressional campaign. (Santospleaded not guiltyto each of the criminal charges and has not yet gone to trial.)
Below, a roundup of the things Santos is accused of unlawfully buying with campaign funds, according to investigators.
New York Rep. George Santos leaves the U.S. Capitol after the last votes of the week on May 25, 2023.Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP
Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP
Botox
According to thecommittee’s report, Santos “deceived donors into providing what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were in fact payments for his personal benefit.” That allegedly includes getting Botox injections.
The report details how a $1,500 purchase at a medical spa in 2020 was noted as “Botox” in expense reports. Two other charges on the campaign debit card — one for $1,400 and one for $1,029.30 — also reportedly appear to have gone toward Botox and various spas.
OnlyFans, Luxury Goods and Items from Sephora
Elsewhere in the report, the House Ethics Committee alleges that a $50,000 campaign donation was deposited into Santos’ personal accounts, with the funds then being used to “pay down personal credit card bills and other debt” and make unrelated purchases — reportedly including on OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform most commonly used for pornography.
The campaign donation also allegedly funded meals, parking, items from Sephora, and — in one case — a $4,127.80 purchase at luxury brand Hermès, according to the House Ethics report.
Then-congressional candidate George Santos speaks to Trump supporters at an America First rally in Ronkonkoma, New York, on Oct. 11, 2020.Sipa via AP Images
Travel to Atlantic City and an Urgent Care Visit
The House Ethics report details how Santos' campaign “incurred significant travel expenses for flights, hotels, Ubers, and meals,” and that witnesses affiliated with the campaign had conflicting testimony regarding the lawmaker’s travel outside of his district.
While one witness testified to the committee that there were only two trips taken out of state during the campaign — to Washington, D.C., and Florida — others claimed Santos traveled as much as “once per month."
In addition to the travel expenses, the committee identified some specific alleged expenditures as “raising concerns of potential personal use of campaign funds,” including $2,281.52 spent at resorts in Atlantic City, New Jersey, from July 23 to July 24, 2022; $1,400 at Virtual Skin Spa in Jericho, New York, in July 2022; and $225 at CityMD urgent care in Huntington, New York, in August 2022.
Designer Clothing and Personal Debts
In anindictment unsealed in May, prosecutors allege that Santos used campaign funds to pay for expensive designer clothing and to pay off personal debts, including credit card bills.
That, investigators charge, was a lie and flies in the face of campaign finance law, which dictates that individuals are limited to contributing up to $2,900 per election per candidate committee.
According to the indictment, one donor wired $25,000 to a company Santos claimed was affiliated with his campaign. Shortly after, the indictment alleges the funds were transferred directly to Santos himself, and used “for his personal benefit, including to make cash withdrawals, personal purchases of luxury designer clothing, credit card payments, a car payment, payments on personal debts, and one or more bank transfers” to a personal associate.
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In May, Santos wasarrested and indictedon13 criminal countsalleging fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements; in October, prosecutors announced they hadadded 10 new chargesto the indictment, bringing the total number of criminal counts against him to 23.
Though Santos ended his2024 reelection campaignon Thursday, he has so far refused to resign from Congress.
source: people.com
