George Santos latest: ‘Ex-partner’ says Santos only cared about fame and power, as FEC filings raise questions

Congressman George Santos looked out of breath Thursday when an activist met him in the halls of Congress and asked if he was following the current season of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Watch the fun moment unfold here:

George Santos has yet another headache ahead, thanks to amended documents submitted to the FEC this week.

The embattled New York congressman was already facing calls to resign or be ousted — from both parties — ahead of his filings with the Federal Election Commission this week. Now these repositories are becoming the source of problem after problem, each with the potential to break the law.

The latest issue reported by ABC News reporters on Thursday stems from filings that several fundraising committees working on behalf of the Santos 2022 campaign made with the agency specifying a change in who is designated as committee treasurer. These committees are now listed as having their financial operations overseen by Thomas Datwyler, a longtime expert in political campaign finance.

But there’s only one problem: Mr. Datwyler flatly told ABC News that he didn’t work for the Santos campaign, and in fact tipped them off before the FEC filings were submitted. .

A Brazilian man claiming to be Rep. George Santos’ ex-boyfriend appeared on CNN and said Mr Santos only cares about ‘fame and power’ and expects him to continue to reject calls for his resignation.

Pedro Vilarva has previously said he struck up a romantic relationship with Mr Santos in 2014 when he was just 18 and the future congressman was 26 – and that their relationship was fraught with dishonesty from the from Mr. Santos.

Abe Asher has the whole story:

Embattled GOP Congressman George Santos claimed in August 2020 that Jeffrey Epstein “could still be alive” – ​​a year after the pedophile killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell.

In a recently resurfaced interview, Mr Santos – who has previously been surprised by several lies about his past, background and family – claimed he had met Epstein a few times and pushed the conspiracy theory that he had been “murdered” in prison.

Epstein was found dead in his cell in August 2019 awaiting trial on child sex trafficking charges. His death was ruled a suicide.

Mr. Santos later reconsidered his death, saying he may still be alive.

“I wouldn’t say he’s still walking around and we’re all like, ‘Oh my god, the guy is alive’ and we can’t tell,” he said. “You know what, it’s 2020, anything can happen.”

Embattled GOP Rep. George Santos has now come under scrutiny for claiming he survived an unidentified assassination attempt.

The Republican, who has previously admitted to lying several times during his run for Congress, made the wild allegation during an interview with Brazilian podcast “Rádio Novelo Apresenta” last month.

“We have already had an attempt on my life, an assassination attempt, a threatening letter, having had to have the police – a police escort in front of our house,” he claimed.

Mr. Santos did not give details of the alleged plot and would not have mentioned it publicly before. During the interview, he also claimed that he was attacked on Fifth Avenue in New York and that his Florida home was vandalized.

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George Santos filed an amended financial disclosure form with the FEC on Tuesday, and within minutes journalists and election law experts noticed some pretty glaring problems. For starters, there are two loans — for $500,000 and $125,000 — that are no longer identified as coming from Mr. Santos’ personal funds, as they used to be.

And then there’s the oddly high number of donations just below the $200 limit – an event that immediately raised questions about their legitimacy.

It looks like the New York congressman has another set of questions to answer as the saga of his arrival in Washington continues.

George Santos delivered a speech in the House on Wednesday, his first as a congressman.

Instead of addressing the myriad scandals that shroud him almost daily, the New York Republican instead spoke out in favor of a resolution condemning the Iranian government’s actions in the face of widespread protests.

George Santos’ colleagues in the House could end up being the final arbiters of judgment for the scandal-ridden New York Republican.

Despite wave after wave of revelations surrounding his past and present fictions and lies, the embattled congressman has remained adamant that he will remain in office. Even in the face of members of his own party calling for his ouster, Mr. Santos stood firm.

But none of that matters if the machinations of the US House of Representatives are conspiring against him.

The Independentby John Bowden has more:

“I’ve made late night TV history now with all of these impersonations, but they’ve all been TERRIBLE so far. Jon Lovitz is supposed to be one of the greatest comedians of all time and that’s was embarrassing – for him not for me! These comedians need to step up their game,” Santos said tweeted Monday evening.

“Finally!!! You are being honest about something!!!” Mr. Lovitz replied on Twitter.

See the rest of their exchange in The Independent:

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy dressed up a reporter at the United States Capitol during a press conference on Tuesday after the reporter asked him why he wasn’t doing more to punish George Santos for repeatedly lying to voters and the media.

CNN’s Manu Raju began the exchange on Tuesday by questioning Mr. McCarthy about whether his resistance to asking Mr. Santos to step down, a step several of his GOP colleagues have taken, was due to his desire to protect a majority single-digit Republican in the chamber. .

Then a second reporter chimed in, asking why Mr. McCarthy was not calling for Mr. Santos to be removed from his position as a committee member.

Watch Mr. McCarthy’s response here: