New: We've identified more than a dozen top donors to Santos' 2020 campaign who do not seem to exist. I also spoke to a friend of Santos' who says he did not give the $2,800 donation attributed to him. motherjones.com/politics/2023/…
A retiree named Stephen Berger at an address on Brandt Road in Brawley, CA, was listed as giving $2,500. William Brandt and his wife have lived at that home for at least two decades. He did not donate to Santos, nor does he know Stephen Berger.
Victoria and Jonathan Regor of 45 New Mexico St in Jackson, NJ, were reported as each giving $2,800. The issue: There is no record of a Victoria or Jonathan Regor living in the United States. Nor is there a 45 New Mexico St in Jackson.
It is illegal to donate money using a false name or the name of someone else. “It’s called a contribution in the name of another,” says @SGhoshCLC. “It’s something that is explicitly prohibited under federal law.”
One donor I contacted is a friend of Santos' who gave a small donation in 2020. He was shocked to learn that a $2,800 donation was later made in his name. He found no record of being charged $2,800, meaning someone may have used his name in a straw donor scheme.
For the small donation he did make, his employer is described correctly in FEC records. In the one he says he didn't make, his employer is an aborted hand sanitizer venture that only he and Santos worked on.
Santos did not respond to detailed questions. He did tell his friend, “I’m letting my legal team handle this stuff. I’ve never been involved in the financial aspect or the filing aspects of the campaign.”
Not all of Santos' donors are fake. I've spoken to some of them. One was told to drive an hour to meet Santos. Santos then stood him up. Santos later called this donor asking for more money. He did not give again.
@nlanard Wow. So when you go to the FEC site and look up Santos donors, then call donors, they say they didn’t donate? Do I have that right? We did a study in 2021 of big media exec donations. A Mark Zuckerberg donor listed his job as Wipes. His employer as Pelosi Butts. Is FEC a joke?
@nlanard That's sort of like the getaway driver saying he's never been involved with the financial aspects of the bank robbery.
@nlanard Reporters need to ask him repeatedly about releasing his birth certificate & his citizenship papers. Could be his “marriage” was only to obtain citizenship - which is also a Felony. That alone should negate him being in the US House, among other “things he’d be going through.”
@nlanard Claiming no responsibility 🤣🤣
@nlanard Doesn’t that kind of beg the question: who exactly was involved in the financial aspect or the filing aspects of Santos’s campaign? Many investigators want to know!
@nlanard What kind of legal team is cool with committing felonies?
@nlanard Is Santos reading from a Trump playbook? Same old "I'm not responsible". I am not surprised his staff are fleeing their jobs.