This does not bode well for Mr. Santos’ future in politics.
Gift link:
From the article:
“I don’t see a record by a committee of that name registered with the F.E.C., and our regulations would be if a political group raises more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing a federal election, they would be required to register with the F.E.C. within 10 days,” said Christian Hilland, an F.E.C. spokesman.
The person who solicited the donor said he was asked by Mr. Santos in the weeks leading up to the campaign to approach donors, some of whom had already given the maximum allowed to Mr. Santos’s election campaign, and to help coordinate their donations to RedStone, according to a person familiar with the arrangement who wished to remain anonymous.
Mr. Santos seems to have played a more direct role in at least one of the solicitation efforts.
On Thursday, another large donor to Mr. Santos said that he was asked in September to make a sizable donation to a similarly named group, Redstone Action, and was told that other donors had “made six-figure contributions.”
and
The second donor, who asked not to be identified, said that he did not give the group any money. In November, the donor said he was solicited again to give to Redstone, now named RedStone Strategies — this time directly by Mr. Santos.
I think it’s a race to see which agency indicts him first.
In his district, yes. The “Jew-ish” thing for one, that is going to cost him with a specific demographic.
We all can see that the Republican party in Nassau County and the rest of the NY Republican delegation right now seem to care a lot. Because they know that Santos still in that seat in 2024 is almost certain to cost them the seat – and weaken the other candidates by forcing them to spend two years distancing themselves (or being challenged to and failing). While running a solid qualified real person to start cleaning things up stands a chance, even if I consider the odds are badly against.
The Republican Conference in the House, OTOH… he is one of ten precious votes of margin and one sure to vote right down the Freedom Caucus line, and they can’t afford to take the chance on losing that now. They’ll take care of 2024 in 2024.
A couple recent cases that come to mind are Rep. Jeff Fortenberry who was found guilty last year of charges related to illegal campaign contributions and subsequently resigned from the House. A couple of years ago Rep. Duncan Hunter was found guilty of misuse of campaign funds and received a prison sentence.
With such a tiny majority, the GOP will not vote to have him removed for any reason whatsoever. Treason, murder, it doesn’t matter. Okay, maybe being a secret Democrat, but nothing else.
It doesn’t matter what they find, or what they accuse him of.
Frankly, I’m starting to get concerned that the constant stream of revelations about Santos’ lies about all matters large and small may be having a perverse effect on holding him accountable. The Republican’s interest at this point is to make as much of a circus of his lies as possible. They want to the keep the public focus on the ludicrous and farcical nature of his lies (e.g. like that he was volleyball star at a college he never attended) rather than that some of his lies have clear criminal implications (e.g. his campaign expenditures). Because the former are much easier to defend against any attempt to expel than the latter.
Short of Santos peeling off his human skin and revealing he’s a reptilian, I’m having a hard time thinking of anything that would count as “drastic” at this point.
As the esteemed Mr. McCarthy would no doubt inform you, there are no laws barring a member of another species from holding office. As long as they are over 25, a U.S. citizen (an ‘anchor egg’ hatched in the United States should get you there) and an inhabitant of the state which they represent, he should be good to go.
Okay, granted there is some question of his meeting his district residency. But that has nothing to do with whether he is ectothermic or not!
Not that hypocrisy is in any way a bar to Republican actions, but when Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry was convicted of campaign finance violations, McCarthy said, “I think he had his day in court… I think if he wants to appeal, he could go do that as a private citizen… But I think when someone’s convicted, it’s time to resign.”
But this is an easy position for Republicans to take. By the time a criminal case against Santos gets to a verdict, it’s likely that this Congress will already be over or close enough to it that it doesn’t matter. Also, notice the line Comer is taking in the article – “It’s not up to me or any other member of Congress to determine whether he can be kicked out for lying. Now, if he broke campaign finance laws, then he will be removed from Congress.” So, they’re explicitly taking expulsion off the table for anything short of a criminal conviction.
