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Ethics committee to probe Santos’ campaign
Continued from Page 2 plexing” in the complaint.
A resolution submitted by Town of North Hempstead Democratic Councilwoman Veronica Lurvey that also called for Santos’ expulsion from Congress was passed during a public meeting several weeks ago by a 6-1 vote. North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena presented a resolution for Santos to resign, which passed unanimously.
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Republican Councilmember David Adhami said he agreed with the general intent of Lurvey’s resolution but disagreed with its verbiage before voting no, saying there’s information included just to trigger people and it was poorly written.
DeSena motioned to amend the resolution to remove any mention of her name, saying doing so makes it a political and personal attack, which was voted down 4-3 along party lines. The supervisor endorsed Santos during his congressional campaign and has since changed her tune following the unearthing of Santos’ personal, professional and fnancial track record.
The Campaign Legal Center, a nonproft organization that aims to advance democracy through the law, questioned the newly elected congressman’s infux of wealth after he reported a salary of $55,000 in 2020, which rose to $750,000 in 2022 and $1 million to $5 million in dividends.
The organization also called the congressman’s $705,000 loan to his campaign into question, claiming he falsifed reports on nearly 40 expenditure flings under $200.
The center fled the complaint with the Federal Election Commission and the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in January.
The FBI is also currently investigating Santos’ role in allegedly scamming a homeless, disabled veteran out of thousands of dollars that would have been used to care for the man’s service dog.
Richard Osthof said he met Santos, who in- troduced himself as Anthony Devolder, in 2016 while living in a tent on the side of a New Jersey highway.
Osthof’s service dog, Sapphire, was sufering from a life-threatening stomach tumor, treatment for which would cost $3,000, the veteran told Patch.
A veterinary technician told Osthof to use Friends of Pets United, a pet charity headed up by Santos under the Anthony Devolder alias. Osthof said he never saw any of the funds after a GoFundMe was set up and subsequently deleted once it got close to hitting the $3,000 goal.