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By: Ellen Cans
From the beginning, when Representative George Santos was elected to Congress last year for New York’s 3rd congressional district, he got off to a troubled start. Reports quickly came out that he had fabricated some key points of his resume and history, which prompted several investigations. In May, he was charged with 13 felonies in three unrelated financial schemes, to which he has pleaded not guilty.
As reported by the NY Times, of the many revelations that were made during the investigations and ensuing federal prosecution, perhaps one of the most dangerous may be the $500,000 loan listed that did not actually exist. On Thursday, Santos’ campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy related to her oversight of Mr. Santos’s finances. Her guilty plea included the made up $500,000 loan, which never happened. This will clearly have implications on Mr. Santos and has the potential to open up new charges.
Ms. Marks’s case shares the same court docket number as Mr. Santo’s and the proceedings are overseen by the same judge, Joanna Seybert. Clearly, U.S. prosecutors are looking to link Ms. Marks’s criminal activity to the newbie congressman. Mr. Santos has not yet been charged with falsifying the loan or with other campaign finance violations. Ms. Marks’s lawyer has said that she is not cooperating with prosecutors. Her admission that he did not lend his campaign the half-million dollars, however, leaves obvious and vexing questions regarding his campaign.
Ms. Mark’s testimony said that at the end of 2021, Santos failed to raise $250,000 in donations that quarter to qualify him for a Republican campaign committee program which gives candidates logistical, political and financial support. Per the Times, in her case, citing text messages and emails, prosecutors showed that Mr. Santos and Ms. Marks allegedly agreed to file reports that said the campaign had raised the money it needed to qualify, by including fake contributions from relatives who had never actually donated. “These are the donations we spoke about last night before we went to sleep,” reads a text from Mr. Santos to Ms. Marks that included a list of relatives and donation amounts.
There was a total of $50,000 in false donations that quarter, which allowed Mr. Santos to qualify for the program. The next quarter, in March 2022, prosecutors say that again Santos fell short and sought to falsify his campaign funding. The attorneys say, this is where the $500,000 loan came in. In the April 2022 quarterly report, Mr. Santos’s campaign filings said that he lent the campaign half a million dollars, which was never deposited. It bolstered his image as a wealthy, self-funding candidate and helped him ultimately succeed.
Per the Times, Mr. Santos has not commented on Ms. Marks’s admission and conviction. His lawyer, Joseph Murray, declined to answer reporters’ questions on Thursday. Santos, however, will not be able to avoid the question for much longer. He is due back in court on Oct. 27. Nathan Reilly, a former prosecutor with the Eastern District of NY’s public integrity unit, said that if Mr. Santos does not negotiate a plea, prosecutors may bring more charges.
On Friday afternoon, Mr. Santos made a bold post on social media, while thanking his supporters. “I’ve never run from tough questions, and I never intend to do so,” Santos wrote.
