Navigating a swirling torrent of scandals and calls for his resignation, embattled Republican Rep. George Santos pushed back Thursday on one of the crucial damning allegations against him: that he took 1000’s of dollars intended to fund a surgery for a veteran’s ailing dog.
“The reports that I might let a dog die is shocking & insane,” the freshman lawmaker from Latest York tweeted Thursday morning. “My work in animal advocacy was the labor of affection & labor.”
Santos, who faces backlash from some Republicans after admitting he lied about key details of his past, also claimed within the tweet that he has recently “received pictures of dogs I helped reduce throughout the years together with supportive messages.”
The word “reduce” was corrected to “rescue” in a subsequent tweet Thursday afternoon. Santos’ office didn’t immediately provide any of those photos when asked by CNBC.
“These distractions won’t stop me!” Santos’ tweet added.
The congressman’s tweet criticizes, but does in a roundabout way deny, allegations that Santos in 2016 had disappeared with 1000’s of dollars raised in a GoFundMe to cover the prices of a surgery for a veteran’s dog’s stomach tumor.
Patch.com first reported the allegations from Richard Osthoff. He was described as a disabled U.S. Navy veteran who was honorably discharged in 2002 and living in Latest Jersey together with his pitbull mix Sapphire on the time he sought the veterinary procedure.
He and one other veteran told Patch that Osthoff was put in contact with Anthony Devolder — one in every of multiple names Santos is alleged to have used up to now — who arrange a GoFundMe through his purported pet charity, Friends of Pets United. The Latest York Times reported last month that neither the Internal Revenue Service nor the attorney general’s offices of Latest York and Latest Jersey could find any record of a registered charity by that name.
After the fundraiser hit its $3,000 goal, Santos had allegedly directed Osthoff to take Sapphire to a veterinarian in Queens, who declined to operate on the dog. Santos then became elusive, and eventually told Osthoff he had moved the cash into his charity to make use of “for other dogs,” the veteran told Patch.
Sapphire died in January 2017, and Osthoff said he needed to panhandle to pay for the dog’s end-of-life services, in response to the report.
“I used to be so livid that I spotted that this guy is now a serving congressman. He doesn’t deserve that job. It’s horrendous that he could lie and steal and cheat his way through life,” Osthoff said Wednesday in an interview with NBC News.
The Queens District Attorney’s office declined to comment specifically on Santos’ alleged mishandling of the crowdfunding campaign. A spokesperson for the office as a substitute reiterated a previous statement about Santos’ alleged conduct, saying, “While as a matter in fact we don’t comment on open investigations, we’re reviewing whether Queens County has jurisdiction over any potential criminal offenses.”
GoFundMe spokesperson Jalen Drummond in a press release Wednesday said, “After we received a report of a difficulty with this fundraiser in late 2016, our trust and safety team sought proof of the delivery of funds from the organizer.”
“The organizer did not respond, which led to the fundraiser being removed and the e-mail related to that account prohibited from further use on our platform,” Drummond said. “GoFundMe has a zero tolerance policy for misuse of our platform and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing.”
Santos on Wednesday called the Patch report “fake,” telling news outlet Semafor he had “no clue who that is.”
Santos has been under compounding pressure, including from a few of his fellow Republicans, ever since last month’s bombshell report from The Latest York Times called into query a lot of Santos’ claims about his education and private life.
That report set off a flurry of other damning accusations, starting from Santos flaunting his inaccurate resume to assist raise campaign funds, to Santos lying about being a college volleyball star.
NBC reported Wednesday that Santos claimed his mother was within the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. But records show she wasn’t even within the U.S. on the time.
Santos is currently facing local and federal investigations and multiple ethics complaints. He has apologized for “embellishing” his resume but said he committed no crimes.
Santos, who won his Long Island congressional district in November, was sworn on this month and has refused calls to provide up his seat.
Republicans in Latest York have denounced Santos as a liar and a disgrace and have urged him to resign. But some top Republicans on Capitol Hill haven’t joined those calls. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has echoed Santos’ own argument that voters of his district must be those to choose whether he stays in Congress.
McCarthy leads a slim, fractious Republican majority within the House. If Santos were to go away office, it will likely trigger a competitive special election in Latest York for his seat.
Santos has vowed to serve out his full two-year term.
Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., made an identical argument Thursday when asked by CNN whether he believed Santos should resign.
“No, I have been clear, I feel that is something between him and his voters,” said Donalds, a member of the House Oversight Committee.
