George Santos names new campaign treasurer — who immediately declines the job

WASHINGTON — Rep. George Santos had papers filed with the Federal Election Commission naming a new campaign treasurer Wednesday, a day after a campaign filing indicated Santos had disavowed a large personal loan to his campaign.

But the replacement, Thomas Datwyler of Hudson, Wisconsin, already had turned down the job on Monday, according to Datwyler's attorney.

The filings Wednesday afternoon named Datwyler as the new treasurer, replacing Nancy Marks, of Shirley, who had served as treasurer since 2019 for Santos' 2020 and 2022 House campaigns and his seven federal campaign finance committees.

Datwyler’s lawyer, Derek Ross, of Washington, D.C., told Newsday his client was not serving as Santos' campaign treasurer and had told Santos’ team he had turned down the job on Monday.

“It appears that there was some miscommunication between that conversation and today's filing," Ross said.

Ross said the FEC papers filed just hours earlier on Wednesday would be amended to remove Datwyler as treasurer and custodian of the records. No new filings had turned up by the end of the business day.

Santos deflects questions about campaign filings

Earlier Wednesday, Santos (R-Nassau/Queens) deflected questions from reporters about why his campaign on Tuesday had amended FEC filings to reflect that Santos no longer was the source of a $500,000 loan to his campaign.

Santos 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 said.

“So don't be disingenuous and report that I did because you know that every campaign hires fiduciaries," Santos said. "So, I'm not aware of that answer and we'll have an answer for the press regarding the amendments.”

Santos’ communications director said she could not comment on campaign related matters when asked by Newsday about Ross’ statement. 

Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray, declined to comment on any questions posed by Newsday, including who the campaign treasurer is, who filed the papers for the change in treasurer and why Datwyler was listed as the new treasurer when his lawyer said he had rejected the job offer.

Murray told Newsday in a telephone call it would be “inappropriate” to comment given the number of complaints filed with the FEC against Santos.

Santos is the subject of county, state and federal probes after admitting last month he fabricated major parts of his resume, including his education and work experience.

Questions arise after multiple disclosure amendments

Many questions arose Wednesday after Marks submitted 10 amended filings, including one that appeared to disavow loans Santos had said he made to his campaign.

In filings submitted last year to the FEC, Santos had checked a box attesting that a $500,000 loan and a $125,000 loan to his campaign came from "Personal Funds of the Candidate."

In updates of those filings submitted Tuesday, that box was left unchecked, raising new questions about the origin of the funds.

Santos, trailed by reporters as he left a closed-door House GOP conference meeting Wednesday, did not answer questions about the source of the $500,000 loan to his campaign.

Erin Chlopak, senior director of campaign finance for the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center and a former FEC attorney, said it was possible the unchecked box indicated that Santos disavowed the loan — but it simply could be an error.

But she said, "It doesn't explain the filing of multiple amended reports the same day that do check the box indicating that the loan was personal funds. So whether it was an intentional attempt to disavow the loan is personal or a clerical error, or something else, I don't think the record is clear enough to say."

In the past two years, the FEC has sent 23 requests for additional information, most with multiple questions, to Santos' main campaign finance committee, Devolder Santos for Congress — and campaign treasurer Marks has filed 44 amendments.

Both numbers are on the high side compared with other congressional campaigns, Chlopak said.

One reason Marks filed the 10 amended reports on Tuesday might have been that she was in the process of preparing the year-end report for 2022 that is due Jan. 31, said Brett Kappel, a Washington lawyer who specializes in campaign finance law.

Multiple committees complicated reporting

Santos created seven campaign finance committees for his 2022 run, complicating the FEC reporting. He had four joint fundraising committees and one leadership PAC.

The FEC has peppered some of those committees with questions, as well. 

In his amended filing Tuesday, Santos lists a balance of $130,000 in outstanding loans that came from personal funds, and $500,000 that was not from personal funds.

In a filing on Dec. 8, he listed a $630,000 outstanding balance on loans from personal funds.

In both filings he attested to having paid off $31,250 in additional campaign loans, $25,050 of which came from personal funds.

Earlier this month, a watchdog group filed a complaint with the FEC urging it to open an investigation into questions about Santos’ campaign fundraising, loans and expenditures. 

And two New York Democratic congressmen filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee about Santos' personal financial disclosure and campaign filings.

Also Wednesday, an analysis by the news outlet Politico found Santos led all other congressional campaigns in reporting campaign expenses that cost exactly $199.99 — just below the $200 threshold requiring candidates to submit receipts.

The report said Santos’ “campaign accounted for roughly half of all expenses by all campaigns that cost exactly $199.99 — a statistical improbability.”

According to Politico, “FEC data shows more than 90 percent of House and Senate campaign committees around the country did not report a single transaction valued between $199 and $199.99 during the 2022 election cycle. Santos reported 40 of them.”

The nonprofit Campaign Legal Center in a complaint filed to the FEC took issue with the volume of Santos’ expenditures that fell just below the receipt reporting requirement.

Also, Santos on Twitter denounced what he called “derogatory” statements made about him by U.S. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.).

Kennedy, told reporters on Monday that Santos is “nutty as a fruitcake.”

“That's why I called him a bunny boiler,” Kennedy said. "I don't know if you've seen 'Fatal Attraction' but there are people like that out there.”

Santos tweeted Wednesday: “I am saddened that a distinguished senator from the GOP, whom I've respected would use such derogatory language against me. Language like that is hurtful and divisive, and has no place in Congress.”