George Santos (R-N.Y.) speaks to other members because the seek for speaker continued during a gathering of the 118th Congress, Friday, January 6, 2023, on the U.S. Capitol in Washington DC.
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
The campaign of embattled Republican Rep. George Santos is facing recent scrutiny from the Federal Elections Commission after an individual listed as Santos’ campaign treasurer denied that he had taken the job.
The FEC’s letter requesting more information concerning the dispute marked the most recent effort to extract the reality from Santos, a freshman lawmaker from Latest York who has admitted fabricating key details of his background but stays mired in quite a few scandals and investigations.
“It has come to the eye of the Federal Election Commission that you’ll have failed to incorporate the true, correct, or complete treasurer information” in a recent filing, read the letter dated Thursday.
It was addressed to Santos’ campaign and Thomas Datwyler, the person listed as its treasurer in an amended form filed Wednesday that appeared to switch Santos’ longtime treasurer, Nancy Marks.
But Derek Ross, an attorney for Datwyler, quickly disputed that campaign filing.
“On Monday, we informed the Santos campaign that Mr. Datwyler wouldn’t be taking up as treasurer,” Ross said in an announcement on the time. “And there appears to be some disconnect between that conversation and this filing.”
In a phone call with CNBC on Friday, Ross said he was working with the FEC to resolve the confusion, calling it “either a miscommunication or something else.”
The lawyer added that he has not tried to contact the Santos campaign since it “looks like a waste of time.”
“When you know who’s in control of the campaign at once and the right way to get ahold of them, let me know,” Ross said.
A spokeswoman for Santos’ office declined to comment on his campaign or personal matters. An attorney for Santos didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment on the FEC’s letter.
Quite a few other political committees linked to Santos received the identical letter after additionally they listed Datwyler as the brand new treasurer, news outlets have reported.
The letter gave the Santos campaign a March 2 deadline to reply. The FEC warned that “knowingly and willfully making any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation to a federal government agency” would result in criminal charges.
Santos has vowed to serve out his full term in office, rebuffing bipartisan calls for his resignation. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said this week that Santos would only be faraway from Congress if the House Ethics Committee determined that he broke the law.
McCarthy, who leads a narrow GOP majority that might get even slimmer if Santos were to depart Congress, told NBC News on Friday afternoon that he has not met with Santos one on one.
