The House Ethics Committee investigating New York Rep. George Santos said Thursday it found “substantial evidence” of wrongdoing by the newly elected congressman, including that he knowingly committed fraud and used campaign funds for his own personal gain.
After the publication of the report, Santos (35) announced that he would not run for re-election in 2024.
House Ethics revealed Thursday morning that the subcommittee investigating Santos “unanimously concluded that there is substantial evidence” that he: “knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct … and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Government Ethics Act relating to his Financial Disclosure Statements (FDs) filed with the House.”
The first line of the committee’s report makes clear that its findings are damning, stating: “Representative George Santos cannot be trusted. At almost every opportunity, he has placed his desire for private gain above his duty to uphold the Constitution, federal law, and ethical principles.”
Freshman Rep. George Santos will not seek re-election following the release of the Bombshell House ethics report
The report comes amid an ongoing criminal investigation against Santos, although the committee says it has evidence of “additional uncharged and illegal conduct” by the Republican, which it recommends it refer to the Justice Department.
On Wednesday, Chairman Michael Guest said the committee would not directly recommend any punishment for Santos, but instead would release a report summarizing the months-long investigation into Santos and allow lawmakers to draw their own conclusions.
Gost added that recommending sanctions against Santos “would take a few more months” and that he expected them to be kicked out after the report was published.
Below are the most shocking claims in the commission’s report.
The House of Representatives voted against expelling Rep. George Santos following federal criminal charges
New York Representative George Santos. Jackie Molloy/Bloomberg via Getty
Santos ‘brazenly stole’ from his own campaign — to pay for Botox, Sephora and OnlyFans
The committee’s report said Santos “deceived donors into making what they thought were contributions to his campaign but were actually payments for his personal benefit.” According to the committee, he did so by reporting fictitious loans to his political committees to “encourage donors and party committees to make further contributions to his campaign — and then diverted more campaign money to himself as alleged ‘repayments’ of those fictitious loans.”
The report notes how many of Santos’ campaign expenses appear unrelated to campaign issues, such as a $1,500 purchase made in 2020 on the campaign’s debit card at a medical spa and marked as “Botox” on expense reports. Two other charges to the campaign’s debit card — one for $1,400 and one for $1,029.30 — also appear to have gone to Botox.
Elsewhere in the report, the committee details how a $50,000 campaign donation was deposited into Santos’ personal accounts, and the funds were then used to “pay personal credit card bills and other debts; a $4,127.80 purchase at Hermes; and less shopping at OnlyFans; Sephora; both for meals and parking.”
Santos boasted he had access to the family foundation but was in fact ‘often in debt’ with a ‘lousy credit score’
While witnesses told the commission that Santos often “boasted of considerable wealth and claimed to have access to a ‘foundation’ managed by a ‘family business,'” he was actually in debt, the committee claimed.
From the report: “In contrast, Rep. Santos was frequently in debt, had an unsustainable credit score, and relied on a growing wallet of high-interest credit cards to fund his lavish spending habits. He occasionally deposited large amounts of cash that he never deposited. accounts, transferred money from one bank account to another in a very suspicious manner and withdrew more than $240,000 in cash for unknown purposes.”
The report also describes how Santos told campaign staff he drove a luxury vehicle despite not: “At no time does it appear that Rep. Santos owned a Maserati, despite telling campaign staff otherwise.”
Santos was a ‘knowing and active participant’ in the fraud
While Santos has denied any wrongdoing, those in his orbit have admitted in recent weeks to their involvement in the fraud (two former staffers in his campaign, for example, have pleaded guilty to criminal charges in recent months). According to the commission, Santos was involved in the plan.
“Despite his attempts to blame others for much of the misconduct,” the report states, “Deputy Santos was a conscious and active participant in the wrongdoing.”
The report goes on to say that Santos’ “lack of candor” during the investigation was “particularly troubling,” and that he was given the opportunity to submit a signed written statement responding to the allegations made in the complaint filed by his fellow lawmakers. “He did not do that,” the report said.
From the report: “Representative Santos attempted to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House of Representatives candidacy for his own personal financial gain.”
The committee alleges that in addition to lying to secure campaign donations, the Republican used his connections to high-net-worth donors “to obtain additional funds for himself through fraudulent or otherwise questionable business dealings.”
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Freshman Congressman George Santos. Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images
What to know about George Santos
Much of the initial controversy surrounding Santos stemmed from the spread The New York Times a report published shortly after his election, which found that much of his biography could not be substantiated.
And while accusations that he dramatically embellished his resume and misled voters about his heritage were the original points of concern, other questions have been raised about his campaign finances and disclosures.
George Santos is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, Speaker McCarthy confirmed
Within weeks, the bombshell allegations not only sparked a bipartisan backlash, but also prompted investigations by the Justice Department, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In May, Santos was arrested and charged with 13 counts of fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements; in October, prosecutors announced that they had added 10 new counts to the indictment, bringing the total number of criminal counts against him to 23.
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A recent attempt to oust Santos from Congress, led by New York Republicans, failed in the House of Representatives, although, as Guest suggested, another attempt could soon be underway.
Santos has so far refused to resign from Congress, but on Thursday ended his 2024 re-election campaign.
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