For more than a dozen contributors listed as having contributed a significant amount of money to the campaign of Rep. George Santos (RN.Y.), the finance documents could not be confirmed, Jones’ mother found in the investigation of records.
Donors identified as Victoria and Jonathan Regor, for example, each contributed the maximum amount allowed – $2,800 – to Santos’ first bid for a House seat in New York in 2020, which he lost, the magazine noted.
Despite a database search, no one named Victoria or Jonathan Regor could be found anywhere in the US, Mother Jones reported. In addition, the outlet added that the listed address – 45 New Mexico Street, Jackson Township, New Jersey – does not exist.
Santos’ 2020 campaign finance report also lists “Stephen Berger” at an address on Brandt Road in Brawley, California, donating $2,500. But a spokesman for rancher and Republican donor William Brandt told Ms. Jones that she had lived at the Brandt Road address for at least 20 years and that “none of her husbands have donated to George Santos.” Brandt did not know who “Stephen Berger” was.
Separately, the documents show another $2,800 in campaign donations caused by a friend of Santos who denied to Ms. Jones that he contributed.
The “questionable donations” accounted for more than $30,000 of the $338,000 Santos’ campaign raised from individual donors in 2020, according to the magazine.
Santos’ campaign documents are starting to look as fib-riddled as the lawmaker’s story about his life. He lied about his heritage, family, education, and work experience. But Santos ignored requests to resign and said he was only “embellishing” his résumé.
An amendment this week to finance forms for his latest campaign showed that the $700,000 donation to his latest campaign on Long Island that the lawmaker claimed was a loan from him did not come from Santos. That leaves a significant mystery about the source of the funds.
Santos said he earned $55,000 a year before launching the Devolder Organization in 2021. However, funding to start the mysterious company — which had no website and was dissolved shortly after launching — was murky.
He claimed that the company, suddenly worth millions, raised his salary to $750,000. That was supposed to help him fund his campaign – which has now been disputed by changes to his campaign finance filings. On Wednesday, an agitated Santos insisted to reporters that he was not involved in altering campaign finance reports.
Santos’ campaign committee also told the Federal regulator that a new treasurer had been hired – but the person named said he had not received the job.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that the Justice Department has told the Federal Election Commission to prevent civil enforcement action over possible violations by the Santos campaign. This is the clearest signal yet that the Justice Department has launched its own criminal investigation into Santos’ campaign finances, the Post said.
Santos could not be reached for comment.