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An amended Federal Elections Commission (FEC) campaign finance report from U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) made headlines this week after it appeared to indicate the embattled freshman New York Republican lawmaker was withdrawing his previous claims of having made loans of his own money to his campaign, totaling $625,000.
If the funds did not come from the candidate, who did they come from?
No one seems to know, and Santos is refusing to answer questions.
Now it appears to be even more complicated.
The Daily Beast reports on a “kerfuffle” that “took place after the FEC posted new statements of organization filed by Santos’ five federal political committees, including his campaign, claiming their treasurer, Nancy Marks, had handed the books over to another accountant popular among Republican officials, Thomas Datwyler.”
Just one problem: Datwyler apparently doesn’t work for Santos.
“Datwyler’s attorney, Derek Ross, told The Daily Beast those filings were inaccurate, saying Datwyler had rejected the Santos campaign’s offer earlier this week.”
Meanwhile, Newsweek reports that Santos “has been accused of listing a man as his campaign financier against his wishes and using his signature without consent, in the latest controversy to hit the New York House Republican.”
Newsweek claims that in that amended filing that suggests the $625,000 did not come from Santos’ personal funds, Datwyler “was listed as his new treasurer, with the filing signed with his name.”
That’s raising even more questions.
ABC News adds that “Adav Noti, former associate general counsel at the Federal Election Commission and now senior vice president and legal director of the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center, told ABC News that someone with the committees’ login credentials would have had to file those amendments and list Datwyler’s name as the new treasurer.”
“It’s completely illegal to sign somebody else’s name on a federal filing without their consent. That is a big, big no-no,” Noti told ABC News.
Marc Elias, the famed elections attorney for the Democratic National Committee who won all 64 cases in the 2020 presidential election filed by Donald Trump or his allies, says some people need to get a lawyer.
“This isn’t going to end well,” Elias tweeted. “I would suggest that all of the treasurers, potential treasurers, past and future treasurers, and alleged treasurers for Santos’ campaigns get lawyers asap.”
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