George Santos news latest: FBI probes claim Santos stole GoFundMe dog money

The FBI is investigating claims that Rep George Santos raised money to pay for surgery for a Navy veteran’s dying dog before allegedly disappearing with the money.

Richard Osthoff says that he was contacted by two federal agents on Wednesday on behalf of the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, according to POLITICO.

He told the outlet that he gave the agents text messages from Mr Santos, whom he claims raised $3,000 to save pit bull mix Sapphire but never handed it over.

Rep George Santos already had a raft of issues to deal with, and now he has another one: the forthcoming release of secret recordings made in his office by a prosepctive staffer.

Mr Santos told Semafor that he believes the recordings made by the prospective staffer, Derek Myers, will be published this evening in Talking Points Memo after the progressive news site contacted his office requesting comment for a story based on a conversation he had with Mr Myers.

The congressman told Semafor that his office was preparing to hire Mr Myers but was given pause when it learned that Mr Myers is facing wiretapping charges in Ohio for publishing recorded court testimony in his former role as a journalist. Mr Santos said he asked Mr Myers to explain the situation, and ultimately decided not to hire him based on that conversation.

“I was so loyal to George, I defended him everywhere I went and then he just throws me away like I’m replaceable because I am,” Mr Myers wrote to Mr Santos’ chief of staff in a message obtained by Semafor. “I want a second chance. This was never about the money. This was about purpose and serving the citizens. You gave George a second chance. Please let me at least have a FIRST chance.”

New York Rep Ritchie Torres has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate embattled congressman Ritchie Torres for allegedly violating securities laws.

“Mr. Santos illegally operated as a broker without a license, raising funds from unsuspecting investors for Harbor City Capitol, a 17 million dollar Ponzi Scheme,” Mr Torres said.

Scrutiny continues to mount over the congressman’s campaign finances, with an FEC filing revealing he spent more than $26,000 at an Italian restaurant in Queens, New York City.

Updated financial records show that his campaign spent $26,032.06 at Il Bacco Ristorante Italiano during his run for Congress.

This would be equivalent to buying 1,131 orders of the restaurant’s $23 rigatoni bolognese or 1,735 $15 Margherita pizzas, revealed Business Insider.

Embattled GOP congressman George Santos claimed in August 2020 that Jeffrey Epstein “could still be alive” – one year after the paedophile killed himself in his Manhattan jail cell.

In a newly-resurfaced interview, Mr Santos – who has already been caught out over several lies about his past, background and family – claimed that he met Epstein a few times and pushed the conspiracy theory that he was “murdered” in prison.

Epstein was found dead in his cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial for sex-trafficking children. His death was ruled suicide.

Mr Santos then backtracked over his death altogether, claiming he may actually still be alive.

“I wouldn’t put it past me that he’s still walking around us and we’re all like, ‘Oh my god, the guy is alive,’ and we can’t tell,” he said. “You know what, it’s 2020, anything can happen.”

Embattled GOP congressman George Santos is facing yet another issue after his longtime treasurer jumped ship amid suspected probes by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Justice Department (DOJ) into his campaign finances.

Nancy Marks officially filed her resignation with the FEC on Tuesday from the serial liar’s campaign and four other political committees affiliated with him.

“At the request of the FEC, I am submitting this Form 99 stating that I have resigned as treasurer for the Devolder-Santos For Congress Committee as of January 25, 2023,” she wrote.

Her resignation came one week after Mr Santos’ campaign filed documents naming replacement treasurer Thomas Datwyler – only for Mr Datwyler to reveal that he had turned down the job and the congressman had listed him without his authorisation.

This prompted the FEC to issue a legal warning to Mr Santos’ campaign about “knowingly and willfully making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a federal government agency”.

The DOJ then signalled it had launched its own criminal probe into Mr Santos’ campaign finances, by asking the FEC to postpone any of its own enforcement while it conducts a parallel investigation.

Alongside the legal turmoil, Mr Santos stood down from his committee assignments on Tuesday – just days after they were assigned – and continues to come under scrutiny for a plethora of lies.

It can be difficult keeping up with the list of fictions that George Santos has been accused of telling, admitted telling, or merely been caught spinning red-handed following a contradictory statement.

But, do not fret: The Independent is here, and we’re keeping track of the whole list of lies even as it continues to grow — both in number and in the sheer scale of the humiliation that it presents for not just Mr Santos, who remains adamant that he will serve two years in office as representative for New York’s third district, but for the Republican House caucus as a whole.

George Santos fumed on Twitter that the media is trying to “smear” him as he hit out at what he claimed to be “fake posts” and “clown” interviews.

“From interviewing clowns, to creating fake “posts” the media continues to down spiral as their attempt to smear me fails. I am getting the job I signed up for done, while you all spiral out of control,” he tweeted late on Thursday.

He did not detail what he was referring to but his comments came as a new report from Patch accused him of making a vile joke about Hitler and killing Jews and Black people.

In a 2011 comment on Facebook, obtained by Patch, Mr Santos allegedly wrote: “hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh hiiiiiiiiiiiitlerrrrrrrrrrr (hight hitler) lolololololololololololol sombody kill her!! the jews and black mostly lolllolol!!! Dum.”

Mr Santos’ former roommate confirmed the account’s validity to the outlet and said that the congressman used to often make antisemitic comments. An attorney for Mr Santos told Patch the Facebook post is “completely false”.

The allegation comes as the congressman has previously been caught in a lie about being Jewish and his grandparents fleeing the Holocaust. He later walked back the claims saying he was “Jew-ish”.

George Santos has claimed he’s “learned my lesson” but insists things have “largely always been above board”.

The embattled congressman spoke to OAN’s Caitlin Sinclair on Wednesday – hours after he stepped down from his committee assignments.

“I’ve learned my lesson. I can guarantee you that from now on anything and everything is always going to be above board,” he claimed.

He then went on to insist that he has “largely” always been above board anyway – but would simply need to “double check”.

“It’s largely always been above board. I’m just gonna go the extra step now to double check,” he said.

The congressman went on to fume about the media which he claims put him on a “trial by fire” for exposing his series of lies to the American people.

“People should be judged on their actions, and not by trial by fire through the media, which is what I’ve experienced for the last couple of weeks,” he said.

Left-leaning news site Mother Jones has uncovered another item on George Santos’s FEC filings that demands explanation.

According to the outlet’s bureau chief, a family member of Mr Santos who is listed as donating $5,800 to the campaign now tells reporters that they never authorised a donation to Mr Santos’s congressional bid at all.

It’s just the latest problem arising from amended filings the congressman’s campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission last week.