UPDATE: Friday, Jan 13, 2023 · 5:40:28 PM +00:00 · Rebekah Sager
Santos says his alleged “Ponzi scheme” was “100% legitimate,” CNN reports.
An attorney for Rep. Santos, Joseph Murray, told CNN Thursday that his client was unaware of wrongdoing at the company.
“As to any questions about Harbor City Capital, in light of the ongoing investigation, and for the benefit of the victims, it would be inappropriate to respond other than to say that Congressman Santos was completely unaware of any illegal activity going on at Harbor City Capital,” Murray said via email.
Rep. Matt Gaetz guest-hosted Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast Thursday, and one of his guests was prolific liar and New York Republican Rep. George Santos.
Having apparently missed or ignored most of the news and what’s emerged from Santos’ ubiquitous untruths—evictions, impersonations of other staff members, Brazilian investigations—not to mention inflated resume items about athletic skills, Gaetz went for the low-hanging fruit. Gaetz did ask Santos about his CV, but not before defending the practice of lying on it.
“Embellishing one’s resume isn’t a crime,” Gaetz said. And Matt knows a thing or two about crimes, though he remains uncharged in a sex trafficking scandal that sent his onetime associate Joel Greenberg to prison. But I digress.
RELATED STORY: Lying liar Rep. George Santos says he’ll resign if his voters ask him to. Tick tock!
“It’s frankly how a lot of people get to Congress, and we want everyone to be honest, and, again, you’ve acknowledged that and you’re working for it going forward,” Gaetz continued.
Then the interview veered into new territory: Gaetz asked Santos about the most recent allegations against him, specifically that he likely broke a few finance rules via a $700,000-plus loan to his own 2022 campaign. The origin of the loan came to light after a watchdog group filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging violations of federal campaign laws.
“Well, I’ll tell you where it didn’t come from,” Santos told Gaetz. “It didn’t come from China, Ukraine, or Burisma. How about that?”
Gaetz had no followup question to that shady-ass answer.
"I've worked my entire life. I've worked an honest life," Santos said. And despite being currently very accused of “bad doings,” he continued to say, "I've never been accused of any bad doings. It's the equity of my hardworking self."
“I also put money into my campaign when I ran. I had to sell some of the property that I’d acquired in my life in order to fund something that I really believed in,” Santos said.
According to reporting by The New York Times, a records review found documents showing a group by the name of RedStone Strategies raised $800,000 for Santos’ campaign and was hoping to raise $700,000 more. One donor gave $25,000 to Redstone, but what remains murky is where that donation money went.
The Times reports that Redstone Strategies never registered itself as a political group, and groups like these are required to register with the FEC and disclose donors.
According to The Daily Beast, Santos’ Devolder Organization formed an entity in Florida by the name of RedStone Strategies, and the Rise NY PAC paid $8,000 to a “Redstone Strategy Group” located in Boulder, Colorado. But when The Daily Beast attempted to reach out to RedStone and ask about the Rise NY PAC donation, they were told there were no payments received by that name.
Now it appears that the $700,000 donation may have come from laundered money from a “classic Ponzi scheme” from a Florida-based “Harbor City Capital,” according to The Washington Post.
What Gaetz didn’t discuss with Santos were the numerous Republicans asking him to resign.
In addition to the New York Republicans, on Thursday, Rep. Max Miller of Ohio posted a statement on Twitter demanding Santos resign.
“I believe voters have the right to hold government officials to the very highest standard of honesty and trustworthiness,” Miller said in a statement first reported by Cleveland.com. “The people’s representatives must respect the need for transparency and candor with Americans. It is not okay to fabricate or lie for political gain.”
Additionally, five other first-term Republicans have called for Santos to step down: Reps. Anthony D’Esposito, Nick Langworthy, Nick LaLota, Brandon Williams and Mike Lawler have all demanded Santos leave office, The Hill reports.
“It is clear that George Santos has lost the confidence and support of his party, his constituents, and his colleagues,” Lawler said in a statement. “With the extent and severity of the allegations against him, his inability to take full responsibility for his conduct, and the numerous investigations underway, I believe he is unable to fulfill his duties and should resign.”
Even former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan has said Santos should vacate his seat.
“It's a fraudulent candidacy. This isn't an embellished candidacy, it's a fraudulent candidacy," Ryan said. "He hoaxed his voters. So, of course, he should step down."
Sign the petition: Expel George Santos
Happy New Year! Daily Kos’ Joan McCarter is on the show today to talk about the wild garbage fire that was the Republican speaker of the House vote. Kerry and Markos also break down what this onionskin-thin conservative majority can and cannot do in the coming year, as well as what the Democratic representatives can do to make Kevin McCarthy’s life just that much tougher.
