Rep. George Santos used most of his latest campaign haul to pay himself back

WASHINGTON – Rep. George Santos raised nearly $150,000 in campaign funds in the second quarter of this year — most of it from out-of-state donors — and used $85,000 of it to pay himself back for a campaign loan, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday with the Federal Election Commission.

Santos (R-Nassau/Queens) reported in his filing for the Devolder Santos for Congress Committee that he still owes himself $530,000 in campaign loans from his victory over Democrat Robert Zimmerman in the November general election in the Third Congressional District.

In a separate filing, Santos reported that his Devolder Santos Victory Committee raised $16,600.

A Republican challenger to Santos, military veteran Kellen Curry, raised $210,725 from his campaign committee and a political action committee run by a defense contractor, according to a filing Friday with the FEC.

None of the seven Democrats who have filed to challenge Santos in the race had submitted a campaign finance report on Friday ahead of the Saturday deadline for filing second-quarter reports.

The money Santos raised came less than two weeks after federal prosecutors filed a 13-count indictment against him, alleging he ripped off political donors while running for Congress, fraudulently received unemployment benefits authorized under COVID-19 and lied on his congressional financial disclosure forms. Santos pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A majority of the named donors to the Devolder Santos for Congress Committee made their contributions through the Republican internet donation platform WinRed, the filing showed.

Most of the donations were for the maximum of $3,300 per election, the filing reported, and began arriving on May 20, the day Santos hired Jason Boles, the campaign treasurer for Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, to be his campaign treasurer.

Brett Kappel, an attorney at Harmon Curran, a Washington, D.C., law firm, said the U.S. Attorney's office for the Southern District of New York likely will take a look at how Santos raised the money, particularly the large donations that came from students, part-time cashiers and others, "and why so many of them maxed out to him via WinRed."

"Ordinary people don’t usually give away $3,300 without meeting the candidate,” Kappel said.

Santos did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The filing gave a mixed message on who made the loan and who was repaid.

The detailed summary page listed it as a loan made by someone other than the candidate. But the later itemized entry listed Santos as the lender, using his own personal funds.

Boles, Santos’ new treasurer, did not respond to questions about the contradiction.

But on the filing, he included a note in the filing for Santos main campaign committee that said he made his best efforts to report accurately but warned that the historical data provided to him “is incomplete.”

Santos' filings don't show any direct spending on his re-election campaign. 

He reported having $55,276 in his campaign fund after paying his treasurer $3,500; Dallas-based Cobra Legal Solutions $2,314; a reimbursement to a donor; WinRed fees; and flights to Washington, where he paid for dining and hotels.

Santos' campaign finance report for the first quarter showed his net contributions equaled a loss of $3,019. He raised a total of $5,333 in the first three months of the year but refunded four contributors a total of $8,352.

Two other Long Island congressmen — Republican Reps. Nick LaLota of Amityville and Anthony D'Esposito of Island Park — had not filed second-quarter reports as of Friday.

Second-term Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Bayport) reported raising $616,283, spending $212,140 and having $992,872 in cash on hand.