Justice Department asks FEC to stand down as prosecutors probe Santos

[iemanja]

Source: Washington Post

The Justice Department has asked the Federal Election Commission to hold off on any enforcement action against George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York who lied about key aspects of his biography, as prosecutors conduct a parallel criminal probe, according to two people familiar with the request.

The request, which came from the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, is the clearest sign to date that federal prosecutors are examining Santos’s campaign finances.

The Justice Department request also asked that the FEC provide any relevant documents to the Justice Department, according to the knowledgeable people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the matter’s sensitivity.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment. An FEC spokeswoman said the regulator “cannot comment on enforcement.” Neither Santos nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2023/01/27/santos-doj-investigation-fec/

[BumRushDaShow]

1. Beat me to it!

[iemanja]

2. Hey, you get most of them!

[BumRushDaShow]

4. I have the app on my iPad sitting next to me

so the breaking banner had just popped in and then I was gonna try to get a "no paywall" link... and... and...

Here it is -

No paywall

[iemanja]

14. Doesn't that violate copyright though?

[BumRushDaShow]

21. Those are archived links

associated with the Wayback Machine.

[sl8]

23. Are you sure about that?

I don't think archive.today is affiliated with Wayback Machine (Internet Archive).

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archive.today

[BumRushDaShow]

26. I have used either...

one has the little calendars with dates and number of times snapshots that were taken or the other - both have a URL search.

I have paid subs to WaPo, NYT, Bloomberg, The Atlantic, New Yorker, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, Nat Geo, Vanity Fair, The Nation, Philly Inquirer, & Philly Tribune.

[sl8]

28. I'm a bit lost now.

I was just saying that I don't think those two web sites / organizations are affiliated with each other. Listing all of your subscriptions seems a non-sequitur.

I think you may have read something into my comment that I didn't intend.

[BumRushDaShow]

30. Well my original reply was to someone else

and more along the line of my being a "newsy" person (which is what mainly brought me to DU). When I do LBNs, I have tried to be mindful of those who hit paywalls with some LBN links (although some sites let you have "x" number of few "free" views before the paywall goes up). So if something "breaking" comes in, I have tried to use more sites other than those with paywalls (and my list was what I sub to that I have or could use to post in here). But if the story isn't on one of the "free" sites (like a broadcast site that does print/web stories), then I try to find the archive/snapshot sites. I have even found stuff on Google's cache.

[sl8]

31. OK, that's all fine, but I still don't see what any of it has to do with my question.

You said the two organizations/sites were associated. I asked if you were sure, and said that I didn't think they were.

If someone had said that Yahoo.com and Google.com were associated with each other, I would have replied the same way.

I appreciate all the info, but I really don't see what it has to do with whether or not those two organizations are affiliated. Maybe I'm being a bit dense.

[BumRushDaShow]

32. Not being dense

more my knowing there is an "archive.org" and an "archive.today" and an "archive.xx" (fill in country or other registered domain and/or mirror) and a yyy.archive.xxx, etc., and I have several that I keep in tabs all in a row. If I was in error associating them, then chalk it up to too much multi-tasking!

[sl8]

33. OK, thanks.

Have a good evening.

[BumRushDaShow]

34. You as well!!

[montanacowboy]

3. Woohoo

Santos should be worried now - fat little liar

[agingdem]

19. Santos is morbidly fascinating..

he is a patchwork of lies...he steals and embellishes catastrophic events (the Holocaust/World Trade Center/Pulse Night Club),he steals pieces of people's lives (education,/awards/race, ethnicity), co-opts grandiose employment histories, and plays the victim of bogus acts of violence (mugged and shoes stolen)..but because his outward appearance is nondescript and non-threatening, he is rarely confronted with the massive discrepancies in his fabricated bio...until now

[DBoon]

48. So in a way he is a vampire

He steals his very existence from unwitting victims

[msfiddlestix]

46. I'm thinking Santos isn't capable of being worried. Like tfg was never worried or concerned of his

treasonous actions, nor his associations with the Russian mob, nor all of the years of financial fraud, money laundering, having certain people "offed" etc.

Though I have never had the displeasure of hearing him speak, and rarely do read his tweets on purpose.

Everything I've read about him seems to add up to a genuine criminal psychopath. Just like TFG.

[ShazzieB]

5. I think Santos is going to get nailed for campaign finance irregularities.

From what Lawrence O'Donnell has been saying, his latest report on his election finances is riddled with problems. In particular, once Santos admitted that one large infusion of money didn’t come from his personal funds (as he had reported previously) , it became a de facto illegal contribution, because it exceeds the amount any donor can legally contribute to a campaign.

He may get away with a lot of the other stuff, but I think it's just a matter of time before his lying ass gets nailed to the wall over campaign finance issues.

[iluvtennis]

7. + agree. n/t

[ShazzieB]

20. I think it's possible he did it for the salary.

But prosecuting him for that sounds like a much heavier lift than getting him for lying about campaign finances. I'm happy with whatever works.

[Justice matters.]

13. How about 'Conspiracy to defraud the United States'?

Congress lawmakers in the House get a $174,000 paycheck per year. As he lied on every statement in his résumé to get elected fraudulently, is it possible he did it in part to get the yearly salary (for 'free' sorta)?

[orleans]

43. i thought he told the person he was living with that he wanted to get into congress

for the benefits (? retirement, health insurance or some crap like that)

[IbogaProject]

45. Takes 3 terms

6 years in Congress or the Senate for the lifetime benefits.

[orleans]

47. right. but perhaps he hadn't heard about that pesky little detail. lol nt

[Augiedog]

6. DOJ will do like does with all republicans. Pat on the back, no cookie today. End of story

[Marthe48]

8. Which agency is more likely to act?

If the FEC is actually going to do something about santos, let them. If DOJ is just going to fart around, step out of the way so FEC can keep going.

My husband died 6 years ago. Seeing a traitor get into the White House didn't help him with his own fight. I am 70. I want to see some of these criminals made to answer for their crimes before I die. I am so tired of the constant 'investigations, that seem to go nowhere, or peter out, or end inconclusively. Yeah, I know, they take time and the investigators have to be sure of the facts before they act. There are so many complicit in the crime, someone is spreading a net, yadda yadda yadda. Is waiting for justice going to be generational?

[Fiendish Thingy]

11. The FEC is known for being toothless

DOJ, not so much, despite what the hand-wringers assume.

[iemanja]

12. I hear you.

[Obvious85]

9. 2 Months tops until he is out

!

[samnsara]

44. or until he shoots up the chamber

..hes a ticking time bomb..

[dalton99a]

10. Prosecute and deport the asshole.

[Corgigal]

15. What the Russian oligarchs

stooge guy?

Yeah, good idea.

[mgardener]

16. I am curious if Elise Stefanik

Will get caught up in this probe.
Apparently he donated to her campaign.

She looks like a gullible fool.

[Tetrachloride]

17. I'd be happy to invite Congressman Santos to dinner.

[PJMcK]

25. What would you cook?

I’m sure you’d flavor his dinner with a bit of carbon tet!

[Tetrachloride]

27. The choices... oh my.... I'd consult the chefs in my family

Good snacks and unlimited Thunderbird.

[OMGWTF]

18. Is Santos even a US citizen? That is the $1M question that hasn't been answered.

[ancianita]

24. Exactly. When the DOJ gets done investigating his very "identity," the least it would do is

refer him for deportation back to Brazil; the most it would do is indict him on multiple counts of election fraud.

[edhopper]

22. It's a good thing Santos

graduated from Columbia Law School. He needs a good lawyer.

[Warpy]

29. Interesting, it's known his aides committed fraud in getting donations

It's not known whether or not Santos (or whoever he is) will skate on that one. It's highly likely that Santos (or whoever he is) is being investigated for other allegations, some of which haven't been made public by embarrassed Republicans.

One hopes the Lula administration in Brazil will do us a favor by extraditing whoever he is.

[SergeStorms]

49. "Embarrassed republicans"?

I believe republicans have demonstrated that there is no bottom to their corruption, and that they're completely incapable of shame or embarrassment.

They simply move on to their next con.

[Warpy]

50. Rich Republicans get embarrassed when they get conned

If they get caught conning the rest of us, that's business as usual.

[SergeStorms]

51. If rich republicans get conned....

do we ever hear about it?

When was the last time we heard about an uber-wealthy republican (the type who control Congressional republicans) getting conned by anyone?

Those are the same uber-wealthy republicans who control the media as well. Their dirty laundry seldom gets aired out. 😉

[Warpy]

52. yeah, that's why Santos (or whoever he is) got outed

He and his staff conned a lot of money out of rich Republicans.

He could have lied his ass off, paid himself $750,000 of laundered money from his dummy corporation (probably with a few Russians donating the boodle) and conned every voter he ever met and no one would have said a thing about it. Con a major Republican donor, all hell is going to break loose.

[BumRushDaShow]

35. This is probably the aftermath of stuff revealed back in December

Congressman-elect George Santos faces federal investigation after admitting to lying on resume
newyork

By Lisa Rozner

Updated on: December 29, 2022 / 6:59 AM / CBS New York

SYOSSET, N.Y. -- Federal and county prosecutors are looking into Congressman-elect George Santos after the Long Island Republican lied on his resume.

CBS News has confirmed that federal prosecutors are examining Santos' finances, and the Nassau County District Attorney's Office is looking into his admitted fabrications about his past.

From defending his reputation on Fox News, Santos may soon have to explain himself in a court of law.

CBS News sources say prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York are looking into his finances, including financial disclosure filings in the wake of Santos' own public admissions to lying about his resume, background and other information.

(snip)

https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/george-santos-federal-investigation/

[CaptainTruth]

36. I hope this is a good thing!!!

[NullTuples]

37. "the clearest sign to date"...is it though, or is someone running interference for him?

I guess only time will tell.

[Ford_Prefect]

38. IMO e rabbit hole runs deeper that many expected it to regarding the apparent money laundering

exposed in Santos's financials. It's been suggested that he was paying off a few of his local "family" at the restaurant. It may in fact prove to be much more than that. To say nothing of what Putin's front man was doing and how all that cash was washed through the campaign.

[iemanja]

39. What's the Putin connection?

[Ford_Prefect]

40. Was front page news early on. But the MSM has done nothing with it apparently preferring gossip.

NY Fund Manager Linked to Russian Oligarch Invested Big With Santos.

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/01/george-santos-andrew-intrater/

[iemanja]

41. That's strange

I can't think why Santos would be worth it.

[Ford_Prefect]

42. He told many stories the right way to the right people who were prepared to believe he was what they

wanted. That's the nature of a conman. He's an adept liar to the right audience. He wouldn't fool you or me. But the gang who believed in Trumpian logic swallow that stuff for breakfast.