Representative-elect George Santos is under investigation by federal prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York, a law enforcement source confirmed Thursday to NBC News.
The investigation is said to be in its very, very early stages and has not zeroed in on any one allegation of wrongdoing yet. But the source confirms that prosecutors are examining Santos’ finances, including potential irregularities involving financial disclosures and loans Santos made to his campaign while he was running for Congress.
Danielle Hass, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, declined to comment, NBC News reported.
The news of a federal investigation into Santos comes just one day after Long Island prosecutors announced they have launched an investigation into the 34-year-old after revelations surfaced that the now-embattled Republican lied about his heritage, education and professional pedigree as he campaigned for office.
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But despite intensifying doubt about his fitness to hold federal office, Santos has thus far shown no signs of stepping aside — even as he has publicly admitted to a long list of fabrications, calling them embellishments on his resume.
"I’m not a fraud I’m not a cartoon character," Santos said earlier this week after admitting to the falsehoods.
Santos’ campaign has repeatedly ignored request for comment from NBC New York.
He was scheduled to be sworn in next Tuesday, when the U.S. House reconvenes. If he assumes office, he could face investigations by the House Committee on Ethics and the Justice Department.
The Republican has admitted to lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street pedigree and a college degree. In reality, Santos never worked at Citibank or Goldman Sachs, or attended NYU or Baruch as he long claimed. He’s also edited his web site to remove previous claims that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors.
"Mr. Santos' lies are demeaning to Holocaust survivors. How do I know? I am a child of a Holocaust survivor," said Linda Beigel-Schulman.
Additionally, he has yet to address other lingering questions — including the source of what appears to be a quickly amassed fortune despite recent financial problems, including evictions and owing thousands in back rent. Prosecutors are now involved amid questions about how Santos went from a 2020 campaign in which he declared no assets, to this year when he claimed to have made millions.
"No one is above the law and if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it," said Republican Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnolly.
The NBC New York I-Team reviewed Santos’s campaign finance records, and found there are several questions that could be asked. For one, the Congressman-elect’s personal income changed dramatically in the years prior to his victory.
In May of 2020, he reported no earned income on a federal disclosure — the same month he amended that to say he earned $55,000. But two years later, he reported being the principal of his own consulting company with a salary of $750,000.
That’s important because Santos loaned his own campaign more than half a millions dollars.
"This is an exceptional case, not because he loaned his campaign money. Lots of candidates do that. But because all the other details of his story about where he got that money have proven to be false," said Dan Weiner, a former Federal Election Commission attorney who now leads the Elections and Government Center at NYU’s Brennan Center.
Because Santos’s biographical employment history at Goldman Sachs and CitiGroup has now been discredited, Weiner said it makes sense to ask what clients paid him $750,000 – thereby indirectly funding Santos’s campaign.
"There’s just no explanation that he’s provided of where his money came from, and we also know he has some ties to wealthy donors who might have had an interest in getting him elected. That’s what raises questions," Weiner said.
"I worked damn hard to get where I got my entire life. Life wasn’t easy. It didn’t start off easy. I’ve said many, many times, I come from abject poverty. I made some mistakes. And I own up to them," Santos said on Fox News on Wednesday.
However, some of his campaign expenses were far removed from his self-described beginnings in poverty. The expenses include hundreds of dollars to clothe his staff at Brooks Brothers, staff meetings and lunch with a donor at Bergdorf Goodman — and more than $60,000 on out-of-state airfare, hotels, and Airbnb’s in places like South Beach and Atlantic City.
The I-Team also found the Santos campaign spent exactly $199 and 99 cents on 37 transactions for restaurants, hotels, Ubers, flights and even purchases at Walgreens, Walmart and Best Buy. Two-hundred dollars would be the threshold that would require receipts.
Weiner said if that were an effort to mask personal expenses as campaign costs, that would be illegal.
"This is the sort of situation where you need to be worried not just about the FEC. You need to be worried about criminal prosecution if in fact what you did is intentionally use campaign contributions for personal type of expenditure," said Weiner.
"I campaigned for Santos and I’m ashamed and embarrassed," said Teodora Choolfaian, a Republican. "I’m invited to his swearing in on January 3 — I’m going to D.C. and tell him to his face: 'You lied to me."
North Hempstead Supervisor Jennifer DeSena, a Democrat who crossed party lines to endorse Santos, said the then-candidate assured her his financial credentials were real.
"Personally I feel deceived. I know we all do, but for me it’s personal and he did answer my questions in a way that doesn’t seem to be truthful," DeSena said, adding that he should stay away. "He's not welcome to this place where residents don't know him."
Democratic Assemblyman Charles Lavine put it more bluntly: "We do not want to be represented by a clown."
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Once he is seated in Congress, it's unclear if Santos will face any consequences for his less-than-truthful campaign. Many, including some Republicans, have called for a House Ethics investigation, or for Santos to give up his seat.
