A Farewell To Santos, "Child Of The MAGA Universe"

 

As former MAGAt Republican Rep. George Santos slinks off shivving his former colleagues before he lands in the clink, Michelle Goldberg has an apt analysis of The Man and The Movement (via Hullabaloo):

"...Should the blessed day ever arrive when Donald Trump is sent to federal prison, only one of his acolytes has earned the right to share his cell: George Santos, who on Friday became the sixth person in history to be expelled from the House of Representatives, more than seven months after he was first charged with crimes including fraud and money laundering. (He’s pleaded not guilty.) A clout-chasing con man obsessed with celebrity, driven into politics not by ideology but by vanity and the promise of proximity to rich marks, Santos is a pure product of Trump’s Republican Party. “At nearly every opportunity, he placed his desire for private gain above his duty to uphold the Constitution, federal law and ethical principles,” said a House Ethics Committee report about Santos released last month. He’s a true child of the MAGA movement.

"That movement is multifaceted, and different politicians represent different strains: There’s the dour, conspiracy-poisoned suburban grievance of Marjorie Taylor Greene, the gun-loving rural evangelicalism of Lauren Boebert, the overt white nationalism of Paul Gosar and the frat boy sleaze of Matt Gaetz. But no one embodies Trump’s fame-obsessed sociopathic emptiness like Santos. He’s heir to Trump’s sybaritic nihilism, high-kitsch absurdity and impregnable brazenness..."

A "true child of the MAGA movement" indeed.

Republican Values: Rep. Santos Hit With Superseding Indictment

 

Things just got a lot worse for Republican Rep. George "Devolder/ Kitara" Santos (Fraudster-MAGA):

U.S. Rep. George Santos stole the identities of donors to his campaign and then used their credit cards to ring up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges, according to a new indictment filed Tuesday.

He then wired some of the money to his own personal bank account, prosecutors said, while using the rest to inflate his campaign coffers.

The 23-count indictment replaces one filed in May against the New York Republican charging him with embezzling money from his campaign and lying to Congress about his wealth, among other offenses.

In the updated indictment, prosecutors accuse Santos of charging more than $44,000 to his campaign over a period of months using cards belonging to contributors without their knowledge. In one case, he charged $12,000 to a contributor’s credit card and transferred the “vast majority” of that money into his personal bank account, prosecutors said.

Santos is also accused of falsely reporting to the Federal Elections Commission that he had loaned his campaign $500,000 when he actually hadn’t given anything and had less than $8,000 in the bank. The fake loan was an attempt to convince Republican Party officials that he was a serious candidate, worth their financial support, the indictment said. [snip]

The new indictment alleges a multi-part fraud by Santos, who allegedly duped both his donors and his family members.

In one instance, Santos allegedly swiped the credit card information of one of his contributors, who had already donated $5,800 to the campaign, to give himself an additional $15,800 in payments, the indictment said. Because the unauthorized charges exceeded contribution limits under federal law, Santos listed the additional payments as coming from his own unwitting relatives, prosecutors allege.

The credit card fraud scheme began in December 2021, prosecutors said, shortly after Santos failed to qualify for a Republican Party program that would have provided financial and logistical support to his second congressional campaign...

Of course, the Republican Party is a perfect fit for Santos, or whatever his name is this week: mentally and morally damaged frauds, grifters, charlatans, creeps, dimbulbs, liars that they are, in a cult led by the epitome of all of those elements.  What next?  Make him Speaker!

(Photo:  Santos flashing the white power sign, with a half-hearted "heil"/ Evelyn Hockstein, REUTERS)

The George Santos Action Figure Is Here!

 

Courtesy of Jimmy Kimmel Live, the George Santos/ Devolder/ Kitara "Georgie" doll is truly the gift that keeps on giving:

Republican Crime Blotter: Santos To Admit Guilt In Fraud Case

 

 

Justice, of a sort, has come for Republican pathological liar (no, not the Malignant Loser) Rep. George "Devolder / Kitara" Santos (Trumper-NY) in ... Brazil:

Prosecutors in Brazil have agreed to a deal with Rep. George Santos in a case in which he is accused of defrauding a Rio de Janeiro area clerk of $1,300 over clothes and shoes in 2008, documents obtained by CNN show.

A petition from Santos’ attorney requesting a deal says Santos would agree to formally confess to the crime and pay damages to the victim, a Rio de Janeiro area clerk, as is required under Brazilian law.

A memo from prosecutors agreeing to the deal last week asked the defense for assurances they have the ability to contact the victim to repay him before the deal is finalized.

In a statement to CNN, the prosecutors’ office acknowledged the memo but stressed that the deal is not final until all conditions are met.

The petition from Santos’ attorney, filed in January, requests a non-prosecutorial agreement in lieu of a trial for his client, arguing that Santos is now gainfully employed and “re-socialized.” The petition also requested permission for Santos to be contacted by the court via email or phone, and participate in the proceedings via videoconference.

You may recall, in an interview in December with Rupert's New York Post, Santos claimed he hadn't committed any crime "in Brazil, or in any jurisdiction in the world."  You could have taken that to the bank (maybe SVB)!

Santos still faces criminal investigations by the State of New York and by the Federal Government (including an investigation by the the House Ethics Committee).  We'll see if the "rule of law" means something more in Brazil than it does here.

(Photo:  Would he lie to you?/ Jonathan Ernst, Reuters)

The Santos Saga Continues: Charge It (And Him)!

 

The man of many identities, all of them frauds, has been fingered in a credit card skimming crime:

Rep. George Santos orchestrated a 2017 credit card skimming operation in Seattle, the man who was convicted of the fraud and deported to Brazil said in a sworn declaration submitted to federal authorities Wednesday.

“I am coming forward today to declare that the person in charge of the crime of credit card fraud when I was arrested was George Santos / Anthony Devolder,” Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha wrote in the declaration. It was sent by express mail and email to the FBI, the U.S. Secret Service New York office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, according to a copy of the receipt from the United States Postal Service.  [snip]

He was previously questioned about the Seattle scheme by investigators for the U.S. Secret Service, CBS News has reported. He was never charged, but the investigation remains open. Santos also told an attorney friend he was “an informant” in the fraud case. Trelha insists he was its mastermind.

“Santos taught me how to skim card information and how to clone cards. He gave me all the materials and taught me how to put skimming devices and cameras on ATM machines,” Trelha said in the declaration that was submitted to authorities by his New York attorney, Mark Demetropoulos. POLITICO obtained a copy of the declaration.

Spokespeople for the FBI did not return messages. Representatives for the Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment...

This guy is a more brazen (if inept) practitioner of Republican values than most of the more subtle fascist frauds currently holding seats in government.  He's under investigation for multiple offenses in several jurisdictions, but he's still one of Squeaker of the House McCarthy's votes, so...

(Photo:  Santos throwing the white power sign in Congress/ REUTERS, Evelyn Hockstein)

 

Ethics Complaint Filed Against Lying Santos (UPDATED)

 

New York Congressmen Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres filed an ethics complaint with the Republican-controlled House Ethics Committee against con artist and habitual liar Rep. George "Jew-ish" Santos. The New York Times, which published the stories that Santos had fabricated his work, education and family history, reports:

"The congressmen requested that the House committee explore whether Mr. Santos, a first-year lawmaker representing parts of Long Island and Queens, broke the law when he filed his required financial disclosures late and without key details about his finances.

'Congressman Torres and I feel it’s incredibly important to make sure that the integrity of the House and the integrity of its members are put front, first and foremost,' said Mr. Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who represents parts of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

The complaint by Mr. Goldman and Mr. Torres, made just days after Mr. Santos took his oath of office, adds significant pressure to a novice lawmaker already surrounded by controversy and facing calls to resign."  

However, don't expect anything from that Republican-controlled Committee, since they've eviscerated it in the opening days of the session, drawing praise from the con man, who called it "fantastic." It's also noteworthy that during the marathon votes for House speaker last week, Santos apparently made a "white power" hand sign used by far right white nationalists, despite claiming at various times to be "Jew-ish", gay and latino. 

Meanwhile, the Nassau County (NY)  Republican Committee announced it will be making a "major announcement" regarding the "disgraced" Santos today at 11:30 a.m. (Hopefully it won't be Non-Fungible Tokens like the Malignant Loser's "major announcement" last month.) At a minimum, given that he's under investigation by law enforcement for campaign finance irregularities, they should cut off any and all resources from him and announce he'll be primaried at the earliest date (though the liar has reportedly told some that he won't run for re-election in 2024).

UPDATE: A parade of Nassau County Republican officials called for Santos to resign, calling him a "disgrace," a "national joke," and more.

UPDATE II:  Santos says he's not resigning.  (Given his track record, you can take that to the bank!)

(photo: Marjorie Taylor Greene and Santos, birds of a feather/ Win McNamee, Getty Images)