The Department of Justice has given its clearest sign yet that it has launched a criminal probe into George Santos, according to a new report.
The Washington Post, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reported that the DOJ has asked the Federal Election Commission to postpone any enforcement against Mr Santos while they conduct a parallel criminal investigation.
The request also asked for any relevant documents to be handed over to the DOJ, the newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, an investigation by Mother Jones found that many donors listed on Mr Santos’s 2020 campaign records do not exist, or deny having given him money.
It comes after Mr Santos was accused of making a vile joke about Hitler and killing Jews and Black people in a resurfaced Facebook post – marking just the latest scandal to hit the newly-elected congressman.
In a 2011 comment on Facebook, obtained by Patch, Mr Santos allegedly wrote: “hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh hiiiiiiiiiiiitlerrrrrrrrrrr (hight hitler) lolololololololololololol sombody kill her!! the jews and black mostly lolllolol!!! Dum.”
Mr Santos’ former roommate confirmed the account’s validity to the outlet and said that the congressman used to often make antisemitic comments. An attorney for Mr Santos told Patch the Facebook post is “completely false”.
The congressman has previously been caught in a lie about being Jewish and his grandparents fleeing the Holocaust. He later walked back the claims saying he was “Jew-ish”.
As well as being exposed for making a series of lies during his campaign run, Mr Santos is also under scrutiny over an amended financial disclosure form he filed with the FEC this week. For starters, there are two loans — for $500,000 and $125,000 — that are no longer identified as coming from Mr Santos’s personal funds, as they had been previously.
