Rep. George Santos (R-New York) was charged in 2017 with theft, having provided “bad checks” written in his name to dog breeders.
The congressman reportedly wrote $15,125 in bad checks that were made out for “puppies.” Days later, Santos held an adoption event with his charity Friends of Pets United.
Santos’ case was dismissed after he denied any wrongdoing and claimed that his checkbook was stolen from him.
Earlier this month, the FBI announced that they were investigating Santos for fraud against disabled New Jersey Navy veteran Richard Osthoff, who claims that the new GOP congressman took $3,000 from his dying dog’s GoFundMe page.
Santos had allegedly told Osthoff that he would help him raise money for the dog’s life-saving surgery, and then kept the funds for himself.
Santos denies the allegation and maintains that he is innocent.
Santos is no stranger to controversy, as more and more of his record has been called into question recently.
The congressman has been accused of lying about many topics, including his campaign finances, education, work history and other aspects of his life.
Santos has admitted to embellishing his resume – he previously claimed to have received a degree from Baruch College and worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup.
Santos has refused to resign his congressional seat.
“This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good,” said Santos to the New York Post.
Santos is currently facing several investigations and has asked to be removed from his committee assignments until his name is “cleared.”
He serves on the Science, Space and Technology Committee and the Small Business Committee in the House of Representatives.
“It is important that I primarily focus on serving the constituents of New York’s Third Congressional District and providing federal-level representation without distraction,” Santos said, following his decision to request temporary removal from his committee assignments.
