George Santos Could Be Banned From Fundraising By The FEC

Topline

The Federal Elections Commission told Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on Tuesday that he has to hire a new campaign treasurer or cannot raise funds or spend money on a reelection campaign—a warning that comes as Santos is reportedly testing the waters for a second term, despite bipartisan calls for his resignation amid a ballooning lying scandal.

“All of us are in the gutter . . . ”—and some of us are perfectly happy to stay there. Republican … [+] lawmaker George Santos tilts his gaze heavenward outside his office in Washington, D.C., January 25, 2023.

Aaron Schwartz/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images

Key Facts

Santos will be unable to receive donations or spend any money from his campaign account without a treasurer, according to the FEC letter sent to Santos’ campaign office in Queens and made public on Wednesday.

Santos had ten days from the date of his treasurer’s resignation to hire a replacement (his previous treasurer, Nancy Marks, stepped down on January 25), the FEC wrote, requesting a response from Santos by March 31, suggesting he could retroactively report the new hire.

The letter comes as Santos faces multiple investigations into his conduct, including irregularities in his campaign finances.

Despite the scandal, Santos is contemplating running for a second term in 2024—and is privately blaming his campaign treasurer for any wrongdoing that may be identified in the various investigations into his campaign finances, CNN reported.

Forbes has reached out to Santos’ office for comment.

Key Background

Marks resigned from Santos’ campaign after watchdog organizations and Congress members filed complaints with the FEC asking it to probe a number of discrepancies in his campaign finance statements. In a complaint to the FEC, the watchdog organization, the Campaign Legal Center, noted a slew of $199.99 donations to Santos, one cent below the threshold for maintaining receipts. The group accused Santos of using campaign money for personal expenses. Separate from the questions surrounding his campaign finances, Santos is also accused of lying about key aspects of his résumé and personal background, including that his mother was present at the Sept. 11 attacks, that he worked on Wall Street, owns a $1 million apartment in Brazil, attended the Met Gala and performed as a drag queen, among other fabrications.

Surprising Fact

Santos filed paperwork with the FEC on January 25, notifying the agency that he had hired a new treasurer, Thomas Datwyler, but a lawyer for Datwyler denied that his client took the job, The New York Times reported. In Santos’ latest campaign finance statement filed on January 31, he lists Andrew Olson as treasurer.

Tangent

The FEC also asked Santos to declare he is running for reelection in 2024 after he surpassed the $5,000 fundraising threshold, meeting the definition of a candidate, the agency wrote in a letter dated February 7. Congress members routinely maintain campaign committees even when they are not actively running for reelection in order to continue raising money, paying off debts from previous campaign cycles and filing disclosures with the FEC, on which a treasurer is required to sign off. Since Santos was elected to Congress in November, he raised $27,870 through the end of December, according to a campaign finance statement he filed at the end of January, which shows he raised more than $23,000 via the Republican fundraising platform, WinRed.

What To Watch For

Whether the House will vote to eject Santos from Congress. Democratic lawmakers, including several of his fellow LGBTQ freshman representatives, introduced a resolution last week to remove him, citing the lying allegations, including his unfounded claim that he “lost” four employees in the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando that left 49 people dead and more than 50 wounded. After the Times reported it found no mention of Santos’ employees in obituaries and news clips, Santos changed his story to say that the employees were in the process of being hired. Santos’ ejection from Congress requires a recommendation from the House Ethics Committee—which has launched an investigation into Santos—and a vote of two thirds of House members.

George Santos Could Be Banned From Fundraising By The FEC—Even As He Weighs Reelection