Nancy Marks, the former treasurer of Long Island GOP Rep. George Santos, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and described his "bogus loan and fake donors," reports the Associated Press.
To impress party leaders, she said, Santos submitted bogus campaign finance reports falsely saying he had loaned his campaign $500,000 even though in reality he didn't have that kind of money and the loan didn't exist. The fake loan made Santos look way richer than he really was, and also helped him hit fundraising thresholds needed to qualify for backing from a national GOP committee.
Santos's election to Congress publicized the myriad of obvious and unvarnished lies he told about his past and his finances, and led to questions about New York Republicans' corruption and New York Democrats' basic organizational competence. He remains a congressman despite a 13-count federal indictment accusing him of stealing from donors, his own campaign, lying in financial disclosures and even benefits fraud—the GOP needs his vote in the closely-divided House.
