GOP rising star George Santos — a confessed thief and serial liar who has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering — has a new reason for Republicans to praise him. It appears as though his treasurer does not exist. Last week, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FED) that "Santos's committees are violating the law by raising and spending money without a treasurer."
From CREW:
Andrew Olson, Santos's listed treasurer, is not and has not been identified as a treasurer to any political committee outside of those connected to Santos. No one asked about it appears to know Olson, including those knowledgeable of political committee treasurers and New York Republican politics. His listed address on the FEC forms is the former address of Santos's sister. He has not responded to any attempts to contact him through the means provided in the FEC filings.
Santos's first treasurer, Nancy Marks, quit. Santos then claimed Thomas Datwyler was his new treasurer, but Datwyler said he never took the job and that signature bearing his name had been forged.
"As we've seen, there are significant issues with Rep. Santos's filings," said CREW President Noah Bookbinder. "His treasurer could be held liable for their accuracy. If there is not a treasurer to take responsibility, that undercuts our whole system of accountability. This must be immediately investigated."
From the complaint:
Given Representative Santos's and the Respondent Committees' disregard for the truth, Representative Santos's practice of using fake names when it benefits him, the Respondent Committees' prior false representation that Mr. Datwyler was their treasurer, the legal necessity in identifying a treasurer for the Respondent Committees, the inability to contact Andrew Olson, and the lack of any record or independent source confirming Andrew Olson actually exists, there is reason to believe that Mr. Olson does not in fact exist and that the Respondent Committees have falsely represented that they have a treasurer or that they, by and through Unknown Respondents, have falsely reported that their treasurer is Mr. Olson.
If Santos keeps this up, he has a good shot at being Trump's 2024 running mate.
