Feds tell George Santos to explain campaign contribution
U.S. Rep. George Santos leaves the Capitol Hill Club in Washington, D.C., in January. Credit: TNS/Alex Wong
ALBANY — The Federal Election Commission has told one of the campaign committees of embattled Rep. George Santos to explain what appears to be a campaign contribution from a Long Island car dealer that exceeded the donation limit, according to a letter from the FEC.
The FEC letter to the Devolder Santos Victory Committee refers to an $11,600 contribution made in July by Raymond Tantillo of Patchogue, part of a family that owns several dealerships. That contribution had raised Tantillo’s aggregate contributions to $17,400, according to the FEC records.
Tantillo, along with several family members, gave approximately $50,000 to Santos (R-Nassau/Queens) and committees that served his campaign, according to Newsday’s analysis of federal records.
The federal limit on contributions by individuals to a candidate is $2,900 per election cycle.
At the state level, Raymond Tantillo also contributed $50,000 last year to the campaign of Lee Zeldin, the Republican nominee for governor, according to state Board of Elections records. At the time, Nancy Marks of Shirley was the treasurer for the Santos and Zeldin campaigns.
The FEC said the Devolder Santos Victory Committee must respond by April 5.
“Failure to adequately respond by the response date noted above could result in an audit or enforcement action,” the FEC letter stated. “Requests for extensions of time in which to respond will not be considered.”
The FEC said one possible remedy would be for the campaign to return the excessive amount of the contribution to the donor if the donor wants it back.
The Devolder Santos Victory Committee is one of several that Santos used to finance his campaign for the 3rd Congressional District seat, which Santos won in November.
Santos since has admitted he fabricated many elements of the background he provided to voters and faces questions about his campaign fundraising and spending.
Neither Santos’ campaign treasurer, Andrew Olson of Queens, nor his attorney Joe Murray, responded to requests for comment Thursday.
Neither Marks, who held the treasurer's post at the time of Tantillo’s contribution, nor Tantillo responded to requests for comment.
Santos' final campaign finance reports for 2022 were filed Jan. 31.
The reports didn’t identify the source of a $125,000 loan to Santos' campaign and prompted more questions about his campaign spending.
The FEC is continuing a review of Santos’ campaign finances.
U.S. attorneys are looking into public filings by Santos, amid questions about the source of his wealth, according to a report by ABC News.
The House Ethics Committee on Thursday also announced a probe of Santos.
With Tom Brune
Michael Gormley has worked for Newsday since 2013, covering state government, politics and issues. He has covered Albany since 2001.
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