FEC wants answers from George Santos about campaign treasurer

WASHINGTON — The Federal Election Commission is seeking answers from Rep. George Santos’ campaign after the campaign submitted new filings this week listing a new treasurer — an individual who has asserted that he turned down the job and never authorized the campaign to use his name or signature.

The FEC, in letters sent Thursday to the Devolder-Santos for Congress campaign committee and five other political fundraising committees tied to Santos, said the commission was aware “that you may have failed to include the true, correct, or complete treasurer information.”

The letter, made public on the FEC website on Friday, warns that “submission of false, erroneous, or incomplete information” is subject to punishment under federal statute, and gives the committees until March 3 to respond.

The letter is directed to Thomas Datwyler, who has served as the campaign treasurer for a number of GOP candidates across the country. Datwyler’s attorney, Derek Ross, told Newsday in a phone interview on Wednesday that his client never accepted Santos’ job offer and had notified Santos’ team via email on Monday that he declined their offer.

Ross said Datwyler never authorized the Santos campaign to use his information which was submitted in filings posted to the FEC website on Wednesday.

On Friday, Ross submitted a letter on behalf of Datwyler to the FEC, asking the FEC to refer the matter to law enforcement for criminal investigation, according to a report from The Daily Beast. Ross did not return a call and email seeking a copy of the email.

Santos’ attorney Joseph Murray on Wednesday said it was “inappropriate” to comment when asked who submitted the paperwork listing Datwyler as the replacement for Santos’ longtime campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks of Shirley.

Marks has served as the campaign treasurer for a number of high-profile New York Republican candidates, including former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley). She has faced increased scrutiny over her role overseeing Santos’ campaign finances as the embattled politician, who has admitted lying about his education and work history, also faces questions over the source of $700,000 in loans to his campaign and his pattern of spending just below the threshold requiring receipts.

Santos on Friday, speaking to reporters outside of his congressional office, did not respond directly when asked questions about the status of his treasurer. By federal law, a campaign committee cannot raise funds and reimburse expenses without a treasurer. The lack of treasurer also comes as all committees must file a year-end report to the FEC on Jan. 31.

“You guys keep asking the same question knowing that it’s not accurate,” Santos said, adding that he will “soon” hold a news conference to “appease all of your questions.”

Wednesday’s filing removing Marks as treasurer came a day after Santos’ campaign submitted amended FEC filings to reflect that Santos no longer was the source of a $500,000 loan to his campaign.

Santos on Wednesday blamed his campaign staff for Tuesday's filing.

“Let’s make it very clear, I don't amend anything, I don't touch any of my FEC stuff, right?” Santos told reporters.

The FEC, in its letter, states that if Santos does not respond by its March deadline the commission will list his committees as “unverified” on the FEC website and could refer the committees to authorities for “false filing.”

Also Friday, Santos, who has been denounced by Long Island Jewish leaders for claiming to be the descendant of Holocaust survivors, delivered a speech on the House floor marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.

"Antisemitism is a plague in this nation, and it is undoubtedly up to us to ensure this kind of tragedy is never to be seen again," Santos said, in a short speech that did not touch upon his own claims of being “Jew-ish.”

Santos previously claimed that his grandparents fled from Belgium to Brazil to escape the Holocaust, but immigration paperwork filed by his mother that was made public earlier this month, indicates his grandparents were born in Brazil.

By Laura Figueroa Hernandez

laura.figueroa@newsday.com@Laura_Figueroa

Laura Figueroa Hernandez is the White House correspondent and previously covered New York City politics and government. She joined Newsday in 2012 after covering state and local politics for The Miami Herald.