Here is my theory about George Santos: He watched Trump lie about literally everything in public, get away with it, and decided to ditch his $55K office job for the high life in politics. He saw all that money rolling around and figured, well, hey, why not?
His campaign disclosures certainly confirm that hypothesis. In addition to a series of expenditures for everything from airfare to restaurants to taxi fares, Santos reported that he spent exactly one penny less than $200, the amount required to itemize expenses. So Uber to the airport? 199.99. A stay at the W Hotel in Florida? $199.99. Pricey Italian restaurants? $199.99
As Sarah Burris noted, the W Hotel’s rates far exceed $200 per night, ranging in price from $700 to $1,200, depending on the season.
But wait! There’s more.
Here is a nice little suburban home on 18 Juniper Place, Huntington, NY.
According to the FEC reports, Santos’ campaign paid nearly $11,000 in rent to Cleaner123 for rent on that place. The New York Times reports that Santos listed those expenses as “apartment rental for staff”.
But of course, that’s not really the case. Also according to the NYT, neighbors said that Santos himself had been living there for months. Others said they saw him and his husband coming and going from the property, suggesting that it wasn’t for campaign staff at all. The one thing you cannot do with campaign funds? Spend them on personal things, like rent for the house you’re living in. The campaign was paying for office space too, by the way.
And then there is the matter of travel. Santos was running for office in New York. One district in New York. Yet he spent nearly $40,000 on travel in the last cycle. Airfare, hotels, Ubers, all of it, and not just for $199.99 apiece.
Santos’ lawyer is, of course, spinning hard on these things, because lying about being Jewish, going to college, working for Goldman Sachs and more won’t get you tossed in prison, but spending campaign money on personal things will. Just ask former lying California Congressman Duncan Hunter. And his wife.
Which brings me around to my original hypothesis: Santos saw what Trump did, saw the grift, saw the lying, and jumped on the gravy train.
