Political treasurer says Santos campaign listed him as overseeing political accounts without his authorization
By Fredreka Schouten, CNN
A lawyer for a Wisconsin-based political treasurer said Wednesday that officials in embattled New York Rep. George Santos‘ campaign listed him as the new treasurer of several Santos-affiliated campaign committees without his authorization.
New filings with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday afternoon described Thomas Datwyler as the treasurer of the Devolder Santos Nassau Victory Committee, Devolder Santos For Congress Recount and the GADS PAC — all committees aligned with the New York Republican.
In a statement, Datwyler’s attorney Derek Ross said Datwyler had not agreed to assume that role.
“On Monday, we informed the Santos campaign that Mr. Datwyler would not be serving as treasurer,” Ross said. “It appears that there’s been a disconnect between that conversation and the filings today, which we did not authorize.”
CNN has reached out to Santos’ personal attorney, his long-standing campaign treasurer and his congressional office.
This development follows Santos’ campaign filing a slew of amended campaign reports this week that appear to raise fresh questions about the source of the substantial personal loans he said he made to his campaign.
Santos, the subject of multiple inquiries into his finances and fabrications about his biography and resume, previously claimed he lent his campaign more than $700,000.
But in two of the new filings with the Federal Election Commission, boxes indicating that loans of $500,000 and $125,000 had come from personal funds were unmarked.
Campaign-finance experts said Wednesday they were confounded by the raft of amended reports. He is still listed as the source of the loans elsewhere in his filings — deepening the confusion about the new filings and whether the empty boxes amounted to little more than clerical errors.
How Santos, who previously reported a salary of $55,000 and no assets when he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2020, achieved a large enough financial windfall to make six-figure loans to his successful 2022 campaign has been one of the biggest questions surrounding the House freshman.
Earlier Wednesday, Santos would not explain to reporters on Capitol Hill why the campaign reports were amended and refused to discuss the source of the funds. He said he doesn’t “touch” any FEC filings.
Asked about the funding source during an appearance earlier this month on the War Room podcast, Santos said: “It’s the equity of my hard-working self that I’ve invested inside of me.”
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