Who handled the money in George Santos' campaign? Disgraced GOP Rep denies accusations of inflating finance reports
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: In an interview with CNN's Manu Raju, George Santos vehemently denied his involvement in campaign finance matters, just days after his former campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks, reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to conspiring with him to commit fraud on his campaign finance reports.
"As far as all the allegations, remember how a campaign works," said Santos to Raju, adding, "I'm a candidate. Candidates do not handle money. Candidates do not handle finances. Candidates do not handle filings," as per The Hill.
Santos also professed his unfamiliarity with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing system, the independent agency responsible for enforcing campaign finance laws, stating, "I don't even know what the FEC filing system looks like."
Criminal charges and allegations against George Santos
George Santos has pleaded not guilty to 23 criminal charges, which include allegations of inflating his campaign finance reports and charging people's credit cards without their authorization.
Initially, in May, he entered his not guilty plea to a 13-count indictment, accusing him of misleading campaign donors, fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits, and lying on financial disclosures.
Another 10 criminal charges were added in a superseding indictment in early October.
Prosecutors argue that the scheme aimed to ensure Santos raised at least $250,000 from third-party contributors during one quarter, thereby qualifying for a "national party committee" program that would provide his campaign with financial and logistical support.
To meet this threshold, Santos and Marks allegedly agreed to falsely report significant contributions from 10 family members on FEC filings. "The defendant George Anthony Devolder Santos and Marks knew that none of these reported contributions were true," as stated in the indictment.
"I did these things in agreement with [Santos]," testified Marks in court, adding, "For his benefit to obtain money for the campaign by artificially inflating his funds to meet thresholds set by a national political committee.”
During his interview with Raju, Santos insinuated that Marks' claims were not accurate, suggesting, "People will say whatever they have to say, cut whatever deal they have to cut in order to save their hide."
When Raju pressed the New York Rep on whether this meant Marks was lying in court, he responded, "I'm not accusing her of anything. All I'm saying is, she has her story. I'm going to come with my facts, and I'm going to tell my side of the story."
Legal consequences of Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks, George Santos' former campaign treasurer, faces up to five years in prison for her involvement.
Before working with Santos in his 2020 campaign, Marks had a long career as a political money manager, serving as treasurer for several influential Republican politicians and political action committees in New York State.
In 2022, she was a bookkeeper for former Congressman Lee Zeldin during his unsuccessful bid for governor, as per NPR.
During the 'Inside Politics' interview, Manu Raju also questioned Santos about discrepancies in House financial and ethics filing forms.
Santos admitted to mistakes on those forms, stating, "Were there mistakes made on those forms? I'm — now I know they were. Were they malicious? No. And I'm a new candidate, and I'm sorry that, like, mistakes were made."
"But it’s another — here’s another thing. Every time somebody suspects there’s a mistake on your ethics report, do you know what happens? The Ethics Committee reaches out and says, hey, this looks funky. Guess what happened? That never happened," explained the NY Rep.
He added, "I didn't understand the forms. That's just plain and simple."
Santos is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, which is reviewing accusations related to his 2022 congressional campaign, disclosure issues with statements filed with the House, potential violations of federal conflict of interest laws, allegations of sexual misconduct, and the fraudulent acquisition of unemployment insurance benefits.
The panel expanded its investigation in June to include allegations of fraudulent unemployment benefit claims, as reported by The Hill.