Originally Published: October 5, 2023 6:51 p.m.
The world knows a lot about Rep. George Santos (R-NY). His backstory is full of lies and his campaign finance reports were studded with extraordinary irregularities. However, amid a cascade of revelations about Santos' extraordinary deceptions and unusual election operation over the last few months, one mystery remained.
According to his campaign's filings with the Federal Election Commission, Santos helped power his House bid with personal loans of more than $500,000. Santos' financial disclosures suggested the sum came as he enjoyed a massive surge in income with a seven-figure salary and more than one million in the bank. It was never quite clear how Santos went from making $55,000 to having a vast personal fortune in the span of a matter of months.
But on Thursday, as Nancy Marks, Santos' campaign treasurer pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge related to her work on his team, we got an answer. Federal prosecutors said Santos' fortune never existed at all.
The criminal information filed by prosecutors on Thursday accused Marks of working with Santos on a "scheme" to qualify for "financial and logistical support" from a program run by an unnamed party committee by inflating the amount of money his campaign had taken in. The court filing alleged that Santos' supposed loans were crucial to furthering the plan. And not only did he not make a $500,000 loan which he claimed to, but he "did not have the funds necessary to make such loans at the time," the filing said.
Prosecutors did not identify the "National Party Committee" that ran the program, which Santos ultimately qualified for. However, details appear to point to the National Republican Congressional Committee, which leads efforts to elect GOP House candidates. The NRCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to prosecutors, the committee program was based, in part, on a campaign's fundraising efforts and required candidates to bring in at least $250,000. Prosecutors accused Santos and Marks of falsely filing documents that showed their family members made donations to the campaign that were not actually received.
Santos and Marks allegedly conducted much of the scheme over text and email, messaging each other the names and amounts that relatives would be marked as contributing, with Santos complaining at one point to Marks that he was "lost and desperate." His anxiety apparently turned to relief once he was accepted for the program.
"I GOT [THE PROGRAM]!" he purportedly texted Marks on Feb. 23, 2022.
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