NY Rep. George Santos accused of ‘serious’ campaign finance violations by watchdog group

A nonpartisan watchdog filed a Federal Election Commission complaint against Rep. George Santos on Monday, accusing the truth-challenged Long Island Republican of committing “serious” violations of campaign finance law.

The complaint said the congressman appeared to have conducted a so-called straw donor scheme to pour someone else’s money into his campaign under his own name, and to have used his campaign war chest to pay rent for his personal residence.

The filing flagged the roughly $700,000 that Santos is reported to have lent to his campaign, saying the money apparently came from someone else “for the purpose of making undisclosed, prohibited contributions.”

The Campaign Legal Center, a two-decade-old organization, filed the complaint two days after Santos was sworn in as the representative for New York’s 3rd Congressional District. The 34-year-old has faced growing legal scrutiny over a web of outlandish falsehoods he spun as a candidate.

“Particularly in light of Santos’s mountain of lies about his life and qualifications for office, the Commission should thoroughly investigate what appear to be equally brazen lies about how his campaign raised and spent money,” the watchdog said in its 50-page filing.

The complaint asked the commission for an “immediate investigation” and noted that straw donor violations have produced criminal charges in recent years.

The Federal Election Commission moves slowly in its probes, said Kenneth Gross, a former enforcement director at the commission. But he said the filing seemed to show sufficient cause for an investigation.

“It’s up to the government now to look into it,” Gross said. “The points that they make do raise questions.”

The Federal Election Commission has oversight over civil enforcement of federal campaign laws, but not over criminal cases. The commission can refer cases to the Justice Department.

A spokeswoman for Santos, Naysa Woomer, declined to comment on the complaint. His lawyer Joseph Murray also declined to comment.

The commission confirmed that the office of its general counsel had received the documents, but said it does not comment on enforcement matters.

The filing also named Nancy Marks, Santos’ campaign treasurer. She did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

The complaint marked just the latest headache for Santos, who has been enveloped by scandal since The New York Times published a report on Dec. 19 exposing his campaign falsehoods.

Last month, the state attorney general’s office, the Nassau County district attorney’s office and the Queens district attorney’s office all signaled they were probing Santos.

ABC News reported that federal prosecutors started to comb through Santos’ public filings, too. A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York declined Monday to confirm the existence of such an investigation.

In Brazil, the Rio de Janeiro prosecutor’s office has worked to revive a 2008 theft charge against Santos, saying that his election allowed officials to locate him. The office filed a petition last week to reopen the case.

The U.S. has an extradition treaty with Brazil. But it is not clear if American authorities would grant any potential extradition request.

Santos, whose district stretches from eastern Queens out into the suburbs, has maintained that he is “not a fraud” and that he has not committed “any crimes” in the U.S. or abroad.

“I’m not a criminal,” Santos told WABC-AM last month.

But he has acknowledged misrepresenting his education, professional experience and property ownership.

He has also suggested his mother died on 9/11 when she did not, has said he was Jewish but later said he is not, and has remapped his family’s heritage.