A George Santos fundraiser impersonated Kevin McCarthy's top aide. He was just indicted in NY.

WASHINGTON — Samuel Miele, a fundraiser for the campaign of Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., was indicted on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating a high-ranking aide to a member of the House in order to raise money.

Miele was accused of using an email account bearing the name of the aide to send fraudulent fundraising solicitations to potential contributors for Santos around the span between August 2021 and December 2021, according to the indictment. He also allegedly signed emails with the aide’s name.

USA TODAY and multiple other news outlets have reported that Miele previously identified himself as the chief of staff for House Speaker McCarthy, R-Calif., though the Wednesday indictment does not name the aide.

Through the scheme, the indictment alleges that Miele solicited contributions from more than a dozen contributors. For his efforts, he allegedly received a commission of 15% of each contribution.

Miele is accused of sending a message last September to Santos in which he admitted to faking his identity to a big donor but stated that he was "high risk, high reward in everything I do,” the indictment notes.

Miele was charged with four counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. He pleaded not guilty to the counts and was released on $150,000 bail, CNBC News reported.

Although the aide’s name is not mentioned in the indictment, the organization End Citizens United filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission last year that Miele impersonated Dan Meyer, the former McCarthy chief of staff, during the 2020 and 2022 election cycle.

"This indictment is an important first step in holding George Santos and his associates accountable for their crimes," End Citizens United spokesperson Bawadden Sayed said in a statement on Wednesday. "Fraudulently impersonating the then-Republican Minority Leader’s chief of staff to solicit campaign contributions was a brazen and foolish plot."

Miele's arraignment comes after Santos was indicted on seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of lying to the House of Representatives. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in May.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Santos fundraiser who impersonated Kevin McCarthy aide indicted