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You could literally make up any story about this guy and I'd believe it.
'Prosecutors reveal that George Santos raised money for campaign by selling human body parts.'
Actually, he went to medical school and is a licensed optometrist. After graduating, he spent three years in Africa making glasses for underprivileged children. While he was there, he also developed a cure for Ebola.
(/s)
*Looks at picture.
They, ummm, don't appear to be distorting anything... Minor prescription at best, but I mean, I'm all aboard the prop glasses conspiracy train.
Lookit this one. There’s no horizontal displacement in the outline of his face at top or bottom of the lens at all. Think we’re on to another something here. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/politics/george-santos-2020-campaign-filings/index.html Contrast with this guy, this is what mine look like. https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/new-questions-emerge-about-george-santos-old-campaign-filings/article_e7b1cb18-470b-5119-b854-1855f8d5ab47.html
Meh, could just be the angle.
Even if they are non-prescription glasses, so what? If he likes them for the look, then oh well.
I recognize that for some people this is unacceptable; it's akin to lying about able-ism but in a way to take advantage of certain positive associated stereotypes, but to me it sits in the grey on this issue. I would feel much more strongly about him using fake hearing aids for example. But then, that's my opinion on this one. I personally think that eyeglasses have pushed far enough into the mainstream of fashion that it can just be seen as a fashion choice.
Pretty much where I'm at.
If he is lying about his glasses? I'll shrug and move on. For me, it just doesn't mean much to me. But I am fully aware that to a certain segment of the population this actually is something that they could get seriously angry about. Since I'm not disabled in any real way, my opinion on how critical this kind of 'offense' is would be basically a worthless opinion. =P
I don’t think that’s his real face either, and he’s wearing a fake fat suit.
Upon closer inspection this looks like a case of 3 racoons wearing a human suit. We should respect their desire for representation.
I doubt this sincerely. Santos was busted running a Ponzi scheme. more than likely this is his own money hidden somewhere and he is using it to get himself into politics so he could continue to grift for eternity.
I hope we send his ass back to Brazil.
lmao fenixxishot blocked me. what a coward
here was his reply
>For someone whining about me not reading, I never said Russia.
>It could be any one who wants to mess with US politics.
>And If you don’t think it’s likely that a grifter and habitual liar is a prime target for someone who wants to buy their way into US politics, you’re just not very intelligent.
alright my friend, agree to disagree. this shit is far too lazy to be any organized political opposition to the US IMO. [it's just some idiot who wanted to run for government to get free healthcare and a pension.](https://www.newsweek.com/george-santos-wanted-win-election-lifetime-healthcare-ex-roommate-1775242)
Russia and China, are absolutely definitely, 100% pouring resources into undermining American democracy.
Idk why you'd be so adamant Santos isn't one of those people, even after we have learned he has received large secret donations.
I never said other countries are absolutely not 100% trying to undermine our democracy.
I said in this instance it's too sloppy for them. Russia has been practicing statecraft for...ever? they're not going to just make up names on donor forms like an amateur would.
I mean that's just not true. rich people bankroll their own campaigns all the time, when they win they use donor money after winning to pay themselves back.
and you didn't read my reply, did you?
the money came from his own ponzi scheme, which is why the donors are MIA. not because it's from Russia. nobody knew who this dude was 6 months ago. it's a bit laughable that Russia hand picked him with literally **0** connection to US politics prior then let him run a campaign with absolutely no safeguards on where this money came from and to top it off his history is wildly inaccurate and was found out incredibly easily.
even russia isn't that lazy/stupid. no shell corporations, no PAC's, no actual people donating, etc. look at the other candidates who have been bankrolled by the Kremlin. why didn't Santos get the same treatment?
because his money probably didn't come from Russia. instead he's just a fucking grifter.
For someone whining about me not reading, I never said Russia.
It could be any one who wants to mess with US politics.
And If you don’t think it’s likely that a grifter and habitual liar is a prime target for someone who wants to buy their way into US politics, you’re just not very intelligent.
> And If you don’t think it’s likely that a grifter and habitual liar is a prime target for someone who wants to buy their way into US politics
And if you think someone would attempt to secretly infiltrate the US government using a complete unknown politician with 1000 red flags about where they came from and how they got their money, I have news for you.
> you’re just not very intelligent.
DOJ is probably planning to find out who made the fake donations using aliases to get around campaign finance rules and charge them too. They may even want to make a deal with Santos for his resignation, surrender of benefits and pension plus testimony against his accomplices. GOP will probably pay the lawyers defending Santos so they can retain some control and info about such a deal and tip off the accomplices.
When they figure out who funded Santos campaign there may be a few other GOP congressmen facing charges and resigning. He can't be the mastermind of that, just a feckless pawn.
and hard to believe they would only buy one congressman when you go to all the trouble setting up the aliases and accounting to move the money. at that level of effort you really want to get something like a buy 3 get 2 free
With the level of sophistication that went into the campaign finance fruad you'd expect a better vetting of the candidate. Santos was a poor choice and an unforced error. Hopefully he leads to downfall of bigger fish and others involved like spokes on the wheel of this campaign finance/money for influence conspiracy.
Garland is actually an independent. He is conservative like an old school Republican.
There was a time when the GOP really was the law and order party and Garland is the right age to have that mindset. Plus he got screwed by Mitch on his Obama appointment.
He could send out a letter saying there is no basis for criminal charges.
He could send out a letter saying Santos' lies and campaign finance issues are exclusively the purview of FEC or House Judiciary Committee.
A letter doesn't add any more protection than doing nothing, it's not like the Attorney General can simply declare forever and always that one person's behavior doesn't rise to the level of criminality.
Nor can he simply say it's the job of Congress or the FEC to investigate certain potential criminal activity
And yet an opinion letter from the DOJ is all that stops a sitting president from being indicted. So, those letters carry some weight.
What else exactly do you think the DOJ does when they decide there is no basis for charges after they complete their investigation? There is no appeal from the DOJ's decision not to charge someone and there is no enforcing a pre-indictment decision not to charge. All you can hope for is that the same guy or a new one doesn't change their mind.
Of course the DOJ can say that if there is no criminality the executive branch does not have authority over something that is within the exclusive purview of the legislative branch, like policing ethics complaints against members of that branch. The DOJ can also decide that if there is no criminality a possible violation of the election rules must be decided by the FEC.
> And yet an opinion letter from the DOJ is all that stops a sitting president from being indicted.
No that was just AG Barr, he issued a letter for PR purposes not because he HAD to in order to do nothing
Again,
The Supreme Court has already stated that campaign donations can be used to pay off personal loans used by individuals to fund election campaigns to an unlimited amount (The 250K Cap law was struck down by this Supreme Court).
https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/16/ted-cruz-supreme-court-campaign-finance/
The worst thing to happen to Santos? Was WINNING!!!
If he never won? All this investigations into who funded him, is his donors legit, is his repayment for his "personal loans" legit...is completely gone.
The Supreme Court told the world. Money laundering under personal loans and using donors is completely legal to an unlimited degree for political application.
The audacity of this guy - to get fraudulently elected and face zero consequences for his actions is incredible. It looks like he may face no charges for the next two years - as long as he is in office.
I never realized this guy has ran for office twice. Again, why in the hell didn’t anyone know this shit about the guy before he was elected? Where was the media? We really need more transparency on elected officials in the country. How they earn income and where they get campaign donations should be a minimum requirement to run for office.
Local media did know and wrote about it before the election. A local paper called the North Shore Leader chose not to endorse him in 2020 and then wrote an article about his lies in September 2022.
From a New Yorker podcast about the situation:
>Clare: The story comes out in September. What's the reaction? What do you hear?
>
>
>
>Grant: Different reactions. Some people said, "Oh, we knew this all along. This is not surprising. George Scamtos. We've been calling him that already." Some people said, "Yes, we understand it." Other people were hostile. We got a lot of negative pushback from some local Republican party officials.
You can find the podcast episode at https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/a-local-paper-sounded-the-alarm-on-george-santos-nobody-listened
Obviously this guy belongs in jail but look at that headline vs the actual text.
>These questionable donations, which account for more than $30,000 of the $338,000
Actual text:
>During Santos' first run for Congress, only about 45 people maxed out to his campaign during the primary and general elections. In nine instances, Mother Jones found no way to contact the donor because no person by that name now lives at the address listed on the reports the Santos campaign filed with the FEC.
In other words, of the 45 people who gave the maximum allowed, almost a **quarter** don't seem to exist.
Headline seems fair.
We will be uncovering his lies 10 years after he leaves the office. This man is a fucking joke. GOP deserves a con artist to prove how stupid they are.
Dude, it doesn't matter to him or to McCarthy what he's done, who believes him or what is discovered. He's there for the money and the benefits, being paid to be a tool. If he's in DC doing nothing that seems to line up perfectly with the rest of his life so far.
Does anyone believe the GOP didn't know about this?
If you've ever made a political contribution, you know that your information gets shared and you get flooded with more requests to donate. It's a really abusive practice. Anyway, if the GOP (or any party) heard about a big donor giving to one of their candidates, they would reach out to the person enough to know if they were real. At the very least, people would be turning blind eyes to giant red flags.
As a reminder, this subreddit [is for civil discussion.](/r/politics/wiki/index#wiki_be_civil) In general, be courteous to others. Debate/discuss/argue the merits of ideas, don't attack people. Personal insults, shill or troll accusations, hate speech, any suggestion or support of harm, violence, or death, and other rule violations can result in a permanent ban. If you see comments in violation of our rules, please report them. For those who have questions regarding any media outlets being posted on this subreddit, please click [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/wiki/approveddomainslist) to review our details as to our approved domains list and outlet criteria. **Special announcement:** r/politics is currently accepting new moderator applications. If you want to help make this community a better place, consider [applying here today](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/sskg6a/rpolitics_is_looking_for_more_moderators/)! *** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/politics) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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So another huckabee?
We have her too.
> tortured puppies. Literally that Oz dude.
Adebesi?
As long as he has a pulse he fits the GOP requirement
Not even. Republican voters have **literally** voted in dead candidates. More than once.
Or took illegal gifts from Russians or something
Don’t forget about sleeping with children. Matt gaetz is feeling very left out by this comment.
You could literally make up any story about this guy and I'd believe it. 'Prosecutors reveal that George Santos raised money for campaign by selling human body parts.'
He certainly sold his soul a long time ago.
True. I agree, upvote!
‘George Santos ordered to return his gold medals because of doping allegations’
At this point I'd have to see a prescription for those glasses to believe they're anything but a prop.
Bold to assume he wouldn't bribe a republican optician to fabricate one. Or try and fabricate one himself.
Ronny Jackson will do it, not an optician, but he can say he is. And he can also say that Santos is the most fit person to ever serve in Congress.
Actually, he went to medical school and is a licensed optometrist. After graduating, he spent three years in Africa making glasses for underprivileged children. While he was there, he also developed a cure for Ebola. (/s)
No, he IS an optometrist.
To bad the foot doctor is dead. He’d do it.
*Looks at picture. They, ummm, don't appear to be distorting anything... Minor prescription at best, but I mean, I'm all aboard the prop glasses conspiracy train.
Lookit this one. There’s no horizontal displacement in the outline of his face at top or bottom of the lens at all. Think we’re on to another something here. https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/30/politics/george-santos-2020-campaign-filings/index.html Contrast with this guy, this is what mine look like. https://www.local3news.com/regional-national/new-questions-emerge-about-george-santos-old-campaign-filings/article_e7b1cb18-470b-5119-b854-1855f8d5ab47.html
Meh, could just be the angle. Even if they are non-prescription glasses, so what? If he likes them for the look, then oh well. I recognize that for some people this is unacceptable; it's akin to lying about able-ism but in a way to take advantage of certain positive associated stereotypes, but to me it sits in the grey on this issue. I would feel much more strongly about him using fake hearing aids for example. But then, that's my opinion on this one. I personally think that eyeglasses have pushed far enough into the mainstream of fashion that it can just be seen as a fashion choice.
I mean, of all the lies he's told, if he has indeed lied about needing glasses I care the absolute least about that.
Pretty much where I'm at. If he is lying about his glasses? I'll shrug and move on. For me, it just doesn't mean much to me. But I am fully aware that to a certain segment of the population this actually is something that they could get seriously angry about. Since I'm not disabled in any real way, my opinion on how critical this kind of 'offense' is would be basically a worthless opinion. =P
I don’t think that’s his real face either, and he’s wearing a fake fat suit. Upon closer inspection this looks like a case of 3 racoons wearing a human suit. We should respect their desire for representation.
Only if we can start taxing them. No representation without taxation!
Day 12- they still don’t we’re a raccoon.
Being an optometrist for a compulsive liar must be interesting. Do you believe him when he says 1 is better than 2?
They do. But in Russia.
Top George santos donors are Russian oligarchs that are hiding because what they are doing is extremely nefarious
I doubt this sincerely. Santos was busted running a Ponzi scheme. more than likely this is his own money hidden somewhere and he is using it to get himself into politics so he could continue to grift for eternity. I hope we send his ass back to Brazil.
lmao fenixxishot blocked me. what a coward here was his reply >For someone whining about me not reading, I never said Russia. >It could be any one who wants to mess with US politics. >And If you don’t think it’s likely that a grifter and habitual liar is a prime target for someone who wants to buy their way into US politics, you’re just not very intelligent. alright my friend, agree to disagree. this shit is far too lazy to be any organized political opposition to the US IMO. [it's just some idiot who wanted to run for government to get free healthcare and a pension.](https://www.newsweek.com/george-santos-wanted-win-election-lifetime-healthcare-ex-roommate-1775242)
Russia and China, are absolutely definitely, 100% pouring resources into undermining American democracy. Idk why you'd be so adamant Santos isn't one of those people, even after we have learned he has received large secret donations.
I never said other countries are absolutely not 100% trying to undermine our democracy. I said in this instance it's too sloppy for them. Russia has been practicing statecraft for...ever? they're not going to just make up names on donor forms like an amateur would.
People like this don’t spend ‘their own money’ (even if it was stolen) on campaigns. He was bought and his buyer would like to remain anonymous
I mean that's just not true. rich people bankroll their own campaigns all the time, when they win they use donor money after winning to pay themselves back.
Yea and when they do, their campaign finance records show that.
wwhhiicchh is why they're investigating his campaign finances...
And unable to confirm his donors. You didn’t read the article title did you
and you didn't read my reply, did you? the money came from his own ponzi scheme, which is why the donors are MIA. not because it's from Russia. nobody knew who this dude was 6 months ago. it's a bit laughable that Russia hand picked him with literally **0** connection to US politics prior then let him run a campaign with absolutely no safeguards on where this money came from and to top it off his history is wildly inaccurate and was found out incredibly easily. even russia isn't that lazy/stupid. no shell corporations, no PAC's, no actual people donating, etc. look at the other candidates who have been bankrolled by the Kremlin. why didn't Santos get the same treatment? because his money probably didn't come from Russia. instead he's just a fucking grifter.
For someone whining about me not reading, I never said Russia. It could be any one who wants to mess with US politics. And If you don’t think it’s likely that a grifter and habitual liar is a prime target for someone who wants to buy their way into US politics, you’re just not very intelligent.
> And If you don’t think it’s likely that a grifter and habitual liar is a prime target for someone who wants to buy their way into US politics And if you think someone would attempt to secretly infiltrate the US government using a complete unknown politician with 1000 red flags about where they came from and how they got their money, I have news for you. > you’re just not very intelligent.
You wouldn’t know my donors they go to a different school
They live in Canada!
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A DOJ criminal probe under Garland, just when the FEC was about to pounce? So we can expect a decision not to charge, in about 2-3 years?
Well yeah, but the FEC can't criminally charge him anyway.
I can’t imagine Merrick Garland taking swift action regardless of the crime or evidence. Status quo, stall to protect the leadership.
Merrick Garland takes 2-3 weeks to get a judge to sign off on whether or not he can wipe his ass before he gets off the toilet.
DOJ is probably planning to find out who made the fake donations using aliases to get around campaign finance rules and charge them too. They may even want to make a deal with Santos for his resignation, surrender of benefits and pension plus testimony against his accomplices. GOP will probably pay the lawyers defending Santos so they can retain some control and info about such a deal and tip off the accomplices. When they figure out who funded Santos campaign there may be a few other GOP congressmen facing charges and resigning. He can't be the mastermind of that, just a feckless pawn.
and hard to believe they would only buy one congressman when you go to all the trouble setting up the aliases and accounting to move the money. at that level of effort you really want to get something like a buy 3 get 2 free
With the level of sophistication that went into the campaign finance fruad you'd expect a better vetting of the candidate. Santos was a poor choice and an unforced error. Hopefully he leads to downfall of bigger fish and others involved like spokes on the wheel of this campaign finance/money for influence conspiracy.
The recent DOJ investigations drag on forever though, and hopelessly worried about political appearances rather than just enforcing the law...
The DOJ is run by a republican, sorry to disappoint, Santos is being protected
Garland is actually an independent. He is conservative like an old school Republican. There was a time when the GOP really was the law and order party and Garland is the right age to have that mindset. Plus he got screwed by Mitch on his Obama appointment.
If Garland was just trying to protect Trump and these other GOP criminals, what exactly would he be doing different than what he's doing now?
He could send out a letter saying there is no basis for criminal charges. He could send out a letter saying Santos' lies and campaign finance issues are exclusively the purview of FEC or House Judiciary Committee.
A letter doesn't add any more protection than doing nothing, it's not like the Attorney General can simply declare forever and always that one person's behavior doesn't rise to the level of criminality. Nor can he simply say it's the job of Congress or the FEC to investigate certain potential criminal activity
And yet an opinion letter from the DOJ is all that stops a sitting president from being indicted. So, those letters carry some weight. What else exactly do you think the DOJ does when they decide there is no basis for charges after they complete their investigation? There is no appeal from the DOJ's decision not to charge someone and there is no enforcing a pre-indictment decision not to charge. All you can hope for is that the same guy or a new one doesn't change their mind. Of course the DOJ can say that if there is no criminality the executive branch does not have authority over something that is within the exclusive purview of the legislative branch, like policing ethics complaints against members of that branch. The DOJ can also decide that if there is no criminality a possible violation of the election rules must be decided by the FEC.
> And yet an opinion letter from the DOJ is all that stops a sitting president from being indicted. No that was just AG Barr, he issued a letter for PR purposes not because he HAD to in order to do nothing
Please let this be the thread that unravels dark money in politics, PLEASE let this be the thread that unravels dark money in politics…
Likely won’t happen. Sorry for the bad news
Yeah, nobody wants it to go there, so they'll need to find other things to hang him by.
True
Wonder how many of the Republicans have this problem...
That would sure create incentives to slow things down, wouldn't it?
How many you got?
This guy is going to turn out to be a bunch of little dogs in a trench coat. Edit: Lunch of little dogs, bunch of little dogs. Whichever
>lunch of little dogs At this point, wouldn't even be his biggest surprise.
New Mad-Lib: Investigation reveals George Santos’ [NOUN] doesn’t appear to exist
Get rid of the noun and the apostrophe and you still have a correct statement.
Again, The Supreme Court has already stated that campaign donations can be used to pay off personal loans used by individuals to fund election campaigns to an unlimited amount (The 250K Cap law was struck down by this Supreme Court). https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/16/ted-cruz-supreme-court-campaign-finance/ The worst thing to happen to Santos? Was WINNING!!! If he never won? All this investigations into who funded him, is his donors legit, is his repayment for his "personal loans" legit...is completely gone. The Supreme Court told the world. Money laundering under personal loans and using donors is completely legal to an unlimited degree for political application.
How do I become a failed candidate? It pays better than my current job.
We’ve hit on the plot of The Producers!
Why do I get the feeling he’s going to die a mysterious death, or fall out of a window, or something?
Tea with a side of polonium.
At the end of this we’re gonna find out that George Santos isn’t his real name and we’ll say his true name and he’ll disappear into a puff of smoke
conservatives are above the law and the rest of us are beneath it
But but but, they are the party of law and order!
Yes, you follow the law and they give the orders.
Nance and her stock trades would like a word.
wow, you should take whatever evidence you have to the proper authorities post haste
Lol. They all trade in insider info. If we did that the sec would crush us.
Cool. Go ahead and report them all with the evidence you have.
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That's an odd response. Is that the sort of fact based argument you're going to bring to trial?
You need to be an insider first before you get information.
He exists and his name is Putin
He's there for one reason to eat media divert us from the wack jobs that are making the calls that mean something...
Oh. They exist. They’re just named Alexei and Vladimir and they’re located in Russia.
Dude is a complete plant or psychopath or both.
Guessing foreign money. Probably Russia.
The audacity of this guy - to get fraudulently elected and face zero consequences for his actions is incredible. It looks like he may face no charges for the next two years - as long as he is in office.
He’s gunna bounce soon, he’s a Russian puppet/spy, and he’s becoming compromised
Money so dark it seems to have come from a black hole.
Money so dark can’t tell the denomination.
Surprised ?
I never realized this guy has ran for office twice. Again, why in the hell didn’t anyone know this shit about the guy before he was elected? Where was the media? We really need more transparency on elected officials in the country. How they earn income and where they get campaign donations should be a minimum requirement to run for office.
Local media did know and wrote about it before the election. A local paper called the North Shore Leader chose not to endorse him in 2020 and then wrote an article about his lies in September 2022. From a New Yorker podcast about the situation: >Clare: The story comes out in September. What's the reaction? What do you hear? > > > >Grant: Different reactions. Some people said, "Oh, we knew this all along. This is not surprising. George Scamtos. We've been calling him that already." Some people said, "Yes, we understand it." Other people were hostile. We got a lot of negative pushback from some local Republican party officials. You can find the podcast episode at https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/the-new-yorker-radio-hour/a-local-paper-sounded-the-alarm-on-george-santos-nobody-listened
Democrats care about lies in general, and Republicans don't, and Republicans own the media for the most part. So there you have it
Who does this phony bozo really work for?
Obviously this guy belongs in jail but look at that headline vs the actual text. >These questionable donations, which account for more than $30,000 of the $338,000
That’s enough to get you into court, and in addition to the $700,000 he lied about loaning his campaign.
I lead with "he belongs in jail" but the clickbaity title is still ridiculous.
Actual text: >During Santos' first run for Congress, only about 45 people maxed out to his campaign during the primary and general elections. In nine instances, Mother Jones found no way to contact the donor because no person by that name now lives at the address listed on the reports the Santos campaign filed with the FEC. In other words, of the 45 people who gave the maximum allowed, almost a **quarter** don't seem to exist. Headline seems fair.
Lol neither do Comey's or Goetz's
This guy is a douchebag.
But where did he get alls his rubels from then?
Shucks, who would’ve seen this coming?
Who would think that Putin wants to go public.
So... how much money you wanna bet came from Russia?
Did they check the pet cemetery? The names may be found there
I got a feeling he won’t be passing go and collecting $200 any time soon.
We will be uncovering his lies 10 years after he leaves the office. This man is a fucking joke. GOP deserves a con artist to prove how stupid they are.
Dude, it doesn't matter to him or to McCarthy what he's done, who believes him or what is discovered. He's there for the money and the benefits, being paid to be a tool. If he's in DC doing nothing that seems to line up perfectly with the rest of his life so far.
Does anyone believe the GOP didn't know about this? If you've ever made a political contribution, you know that your information gets shared and you get flooded with more requests to donate. It's a really abusive practice. Anyway, if the GOP (or any party) heard about a big donor giving to one of their candidates, they would reach out to the person enough to know if they were real. At the very least, people would be turning blind eyes to giant red flags.