Rep. George Santos returns to U.S. Capitol in the wake of criminal charges

WASHINGTON — Rep. George Santos returned to Capitol Hill on Thursday, a day after federal prosecutors on Long Island filed criminal charges against him, staying largely out of sight except for an appearance at the U.S. Capitol in the late afternoon to cast his vote for a House Republican border security package.

Santos (R- Nassau/Queens) did not respond to questions shouted by reporters as he entered and exited the Capitol building, and his congressional office remained locked for most of the day, with only one of his aides, Vish Burra, arriving for a short period.

Santos’ brief day at the Capitol complex came a day after he pleaded not guilty to 13 federal felony charges in U.S. District Court in Central Islip, including charges that he fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits and defrauded campaign donors.

Santos' return to Washington came as documentary filmmaker Blake Zeff released audio recordings in which Santos blamed a company run by his ex-campaign treasurer, Nancy Marks of Shirley, for problems with his campaign finance reports.

Santos also asserts he would “go to the grave” before revealing the sources of income he earned before entering office in January.

In a separate 15-second clip, Santos can be heard imitating a Yiddish accent as he talked about being “in a room with a lot of Jews.”

Zeff in a Twitter post said Santos was “Talking about his district” when he said: “You sit in a room with a lot of Jews, you’re [expletive]! It’s funny when the -isms start coming out, right? ‘Oh he’s such a mensch, he’s such a mensch.’ ” 

Asked by Newsday about the comments, Santos said in a text message he was talking “about negotiations” and said Zeff should “release the whole clip and be truthful!”

Zeff did not immediately return a message sent to his Twitter account.

Santos drew criticism after asserting in his campaign biography that he was of Jewish descent. He said his grandparents were born in Ukraine and had escaped the Holocaust by fleeing to Belgium and resettling in Brazil.

The Forward, a Jewish publication, later reported his grandparents were born in Brazil. 

Also in the audio clips released by Zeff, Santos, without naming Marks directly, faulted his former treasurer for questions about his campaign finance reports, saying “the person I trusted” filed “unprofessional” finance reports with the Federal Election Commission.

“You hire a fiduciary, you trust them. You go to sleep and go, ‘I hired a company … 30 years in the business, has done … former congressman Lee Zeldin’s stuff for 14 years,” Santos says, referring to Marks’ work for Zeldin and dozens of other state Republicans.

The Federal Election Commission has raised questions about whether Santos' campaign failed to adequately identify some donors who may have exceeded campaign spending limits.

Marks’ attorney, Ray Perini, a former Republican candidate for Suffolk County district attorney, did not immediately return a telephone call to his office.

In another clip posted online, Santos, who has faced questions about the source of a $700,000 loan to his 2022 campaign, says: “I will go to the grave before anybody on this planet asks me to reveal information prior to the relevancy of my service in office. I don’t have to. I’m protected as an American citizen. Not because I’m hiding anything, just because out of spite I won’t do it.”

Zeff released the clips on his Twitter account and provided others to MSNBC. On Twitter he said he “ditched the idea” for a documentary about Santos after Santos sought money in exchange for his participation.

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.