Santos changes story on disclosure report Shows $500K

BY ROBERT PELAEZ

Republican U.S. Rep. George Santos filed new campaign disclosure reports Tuesday that changed the source of a $500,000 loan previously claimed as “personal funds.”

Financial disclosure reports Santos filed following the November election showed an outstanding balance of $630,000 on loans from his personal funds. He had originally listed a $705,000 loan to his campaign.

Filings on Tuesday showed that $500,000 in loans were not listed from his personal funds and did not specify where the loan originated.

Less In Questioned Personal Loan

Money Santos listed as a loan in his campaign filings and its source have been questioned in complaints filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Santos’ campaign lawyer Joe Murray, told Newsday that “Due to the FEC complaints it would be inappropriate to comment on an open investigation.”

Efforts to reach a representative from Santos’ Congressional office for comment were unavailing.

Santos faces a pair of new complaints filed by a watchdog group and two of his Democratic colleagues from New York.

The Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit organization that aims to advance democracy through the law, questioned the newly-elected congressman’s influx of wealth after reporting a salary of $55,000 in 2020 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 falsified reports on nearly 40 expenditure filings under $200.

The center filed the complaint with the Federal Election Commission on Monday and to the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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