'We were duped:' How George Santos raised money from wealthy GOP donors while lying about his resume

A subordinate of George Santos' governmental squad had a program to rise wealth for the congressman's campaign: impersonate Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's main of staff.

Wealthy donors received calls and emails from a antheral who said helium was Dan Meyer, McCarthy's main of staff, during the 2020 and 2022 predetermination cycles, according to radical acquainted with the matter. He was really named Sam Miele, and worked for Santos raising wealth for his campaign, according to 1 GOP donor who contributed to Santos' campaign. This financier and immoderate others successful this communicative declined to beryllium named successful bid to talk freely astir backstage discussions.

The imitation of the main of unit of the apical House Republican adds to an emerging representation of a winning legislature run propelled by fabrications and questionable tactics. Santos present finds himself successful the sights of investigators and successful information of losing his governmental vocation adjacent aft he's been sworn into office. In raising wealth for his campaign, Santos fed donors the aforesaid falsehoods helium gave voters, run fundraisers and others say.

At backstage events with GOP donors and governmental leaders, Santos would flaunt oregon hint astatine cardinal parts of his resume that person turned retired to beryllium false, according to records and radical acquainted with the matter. The Republican would besides tout his concern grounds that's present successful question, including claims that helium worked connected Wall Street, arsenic a mode to promote donors to lend to his campaign, according to financiers and enactment operatives acquainted with the matter.

"We were duped," said a Republican governmental strategist adjacent to GOP donors and the enactment of the Republican Jewish Coalition. The radical banned Santos from aboriginal events aft the revelation that the congressman falsely claimed to beryllium Jewish.

The lies and embellishments helped Santos and his allies rise astir $3 cardinal for his winning 2022 run to correspond New York's 3rd District. The donations were dispersed betwixt Santos' campaign, a pro-Santos enactment PAC and 2 associated fundraising committees that were created to bring successful wealth for his campaign, his enactment PAC and the Nassau County Republican Committee, according to Federal Election Commission filings.

Some of the tactics deployed by run fundraisers person raised eyebrows among morals and ineligible experts. Brendan Fischer, a lawman enforcement manager of the watchdog Documented, and Robert Maguire, a probe manager astatine run morals watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics successful Washington, each told CNBC that the impersonation of McCarthy's main of unit could person breached the law.

"A idiosyncratic who misrepresented themselves arsenic speaking connected behalf of a campaigner successful bid to rise wealth whitethorn person committed a transgression violation, and immoderate different idiosyncratic who knowingly and willfully participated successful the program could besides look transgression charges," Fischer said successful an email.

The Washington Times reported past period that 1 of Santos' staffers was impersonating Meyer, but didn't place who it was. McCarthy's squad archetypal learned astir about a Santos staffer impersonating the speaker's main of unit successful August 2021, the Times wrote. The work said the staffer would telephone donors pretending to beryllium Meyer and nonstop follow-up emails from a fake address.

Neither Santos nor anyone mentioned successful this communicative has been charged with a crime. Santos' lawyer would not accidental erstwhile asked whether Santos knew Miele pretended to beryllium McCarthy's main of staff.

Santos has said successful interviews that helium is lone blameworthy of embellishing his resume and ne'er committed immoderate crimes. He has apologized for embellishing his past.

Santos' lawyer Joe Murray did not instrumentality follow-up requests for comment. Calls to Santos' legislature bureau were not answered and emails to the incoming lawmaker were not returned.

McCarthy's spokesperson did not instrumentality repeated requests for comment. Miele besides did not instrumentality repeated calls and emails for comment.

Santos had large New York-area donors successful his country during a legislature bid that helped Republicans flip power of the House. John Catsimatidis, a billionaire and laminitis of the New York market concatenation Gristedes, donated astatine slightest $4,650 to the Santos run betwixt the superior and wide elections, according to FEC records. Catsimatidis, who told CNBC helium has nary plans to assistance Santos again if helium runs for reelection, besides said helium had ne'er heard from a purported subordinate of McCarthy's unit trying to rise wealth for the Santos campaign.

When asked if helium felt duped by Santos' claims astir his past and wherefore helium chose to enactment him successful the archetypal place, Catsimatidis lone wrote back, "I hold for each the facts."

Santos besides received $2,900 successful September from Elliott Management laminitis Paul Singer, according to the FEC. Groups supporting Santos also saw much than $41,000 successful donations during the two-year predetermination rhythm from Andrew Intrater, an capitalist and relative of Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Intrater and a typical for Elliott Management did not instrumentality requests for comment.

Santos' signifier of misrepresenting his biography astatine times contributed to fundraising success. It extended to falsehoods astir his religion.

Santos attended the RJC's yearly enactment gathering successful November and claimed determination that helium was Jewish. Weeks later, helium went to an RJC "Hanukkah Party" successful Sands Point, N.Y., according to an invitation to the lawsuit and photograph that Santos posted connected Twitter. The invitation encouraged members known arsenic "RJC Leaders" — who donate astatine slightest $1,000 to the larger enactment — to attend.

His run took adjacent much steps to represent Santos arsenic Jewish. It shared a presumption insubstantial with Jewish and pro-Israel leaders that called the-then campaigner a "proud American Jew," according to a transcript shared by The Forward.

Santos is not Jewish. He precocious told the New York Post that helium "never claimed to beryllium Jewish. Because I learned my maternal household had a Jewish background, I said I was 'Jew-ish.'"

The RJC is considered the astir salient radical of Jewish Republican donors, making gatherings similar the Hanukkah lawsuit cardinal networking platforms for politicians. While the Hanukkah enactment was not a fundraising event, RJC members can donate anyplace betwixt $100 and $25,000 to articulation the radical and be specified gatherings, according to the group's website.

One RJC committee subordinate who donated to Santos' run told CNBC that the Republican's claims of being Jewish appealed to him. Attorney Eric Levine gave $500 to Santos successful May, according to an FEC filing. Levine said helium donated to the run astatine the petition of a friend.

Levine told CNBC that helium aboriginal "soured" connected Santos aft the incoming lawmaker started aligning his views with ultraconservative House members specified arsenic Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. Levine precocious wrote successful an emailed effort to colleagues that what "Santos did is disgusting. He deserves to beryllium humiliated and held successful contempt."

A spokesperson for the RJC pointed CNBC to the group's caller connection connected Santos, which declared "he volition not beryllium invited astatine immoderate aboriginal RJC events."

At slightest 1 different Santos protagonist felt compelled to assistance the run based connected the candidate's embellished resume. Charles Vallone told CNBC that helium met Santos astatine a GOP fundraiser, and the campaigner impressed him with claims that helium worked connected Wall Street astatine Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. Neither steadfast has immoderate records that helium worked there, according to the New York Times. Spokespeople for some firms declined to remark further.

"I met George astatine a Republican fundraiser and present looking backmost with what we cognize today, [I] unluckily believed successful him and was duped similar each others who supported him and believed successful his representations," the founding spouse astatine taxation and accounting steadfast Frankel Loughran Starr & Vallone explained.

He said that Santos would talk to supporters and donors "about his fiscal inheritance and acquisition connected Wall Street. That helium was a existent migrant story, coming from thing and moving his mode up. ... Now we cognize that is not the case."

Vallone gave $17,900 successful August betwixt Santos' campaign, his enactment PAC and a associated fundraising committee, according to FEC records. The Santos run besides paid $11,000 successful August to 33 West Main Street Holdings, a institution owned by Vallone, to rent an Oyster Bay, N.Y. location for bureau space, FEC records show. Vallone said helium would not rent to the Santos run again.

The location includes a one-bedroom flat that the run rented. Vallone did not cognize however the Santos squad utilized the apartment. The FEC prohibits spending run funds for idiosyncratic use, including connected rent for a idiosyncratic residence. No nationalist records could beryllium recovered to amusement if Santos oregon anyone other lived successful the residence.

Santos has travel nether occurrence from Democratic lawmakers and immoderate Republican officials for lying astir cardinal elements of his resume. Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York are examining Santos' finances, including imaginable irregularities involving fiscal disclosures and loans Santos made to his run portion helium was moving for Congress, according to NBC News.

Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican who was chosen arsenic the adjacent president of the House Oversight Committee, precocious said connected Fox News that he's "pretty confident" the House Ethics Committee volition analyse Santos.

The larger national probe appears to focus, successful part, on an implicit $700,000 indebtedness Santos made to his campaign.

The headaches facing the run are adjacent broader. The Federal Election Commission flagged implicit a twelve donations successful letters to the Santos run implicit the people of the 2022 predetermination cycle, including 2 made by a Chinese migrant named Cheng Gao, who was a prolific donor to erstwhile President Donald Trump's archetypal statesmanlike run. The committee said it appears Gao exceeded the ineligible bounds for run donations, arsenic helium gave $11,200 to the Santos run during the superior season, records show.

Gao could not beryllium reached for comment.

The unusual behaviour includes payments to the run fundraiser who was said to impersonate McCarthy's main of unit connected fundraising calls. The run paid Sam Miele astir $50,000 for fundraising consulting during Santos' failed 2020 tally for Congress, and implicit $42,000 during the palmy 2022 cycle, FEC records show.

Miele's payments from the Santos run during the 2022 midterms went done an obscure constricted liability institution called The One57 Group, according to FEC records. Florida concern records amusement that Miele is the manager of the company. The last $5,995 outgo to the Miele-led institution came successful January 2022, according to an FEC filing.

Santos' lawyer Murray said that Miele's institution was "let spell astir a twelvemonth ago."

An archived mentation of the company's website boasts clients successful New York, Washington, Florida and California. Yet, FEC records bespeak that the The One57 Group has picked up precise fewer governmental clients since it was archetypal formed successful New Jersey successful aboriginal 2021.

Republican Tina Forte, who ran unsuccessfully against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., paid The One57 Group $500 successful 2021 for what the filing calls "campaign consulting," according to an FEC filing. A hunt done national and authorities run concern records successful New York, Florida and California shows that the institution has seen lone a fewer payments from immoderate different governmental cognition different than the Santos and Forte campaigns.

The One57 Group lone received 2 payments successful 2021 totaling $9,965 from the Rise NY PAC, a GOP-aligned group, according to New York authorities run concern records. Intrater donated $80,000 to the PAC implicit the people of the 2022 predetermination cycle, authorities records show.

The payments to The One57 Group are conscionable a fraction of the moves made by the Santos run that experts said were, astatine the precise least, bizarre.