Rep. George Santos’s aide charged with fraud & identity theft in campaign donation scheme

Samuel Miele, a former campaign aide of out gay Rep. George Santos (R-NY), has pleaded not guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count of identity theft. The charges accuse Miele of sending fundraising emails and phone calls for Santos’s campaign in which he allegedly claimed to be Dan Meyer, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) now-retired chief of staff.

While Santos wasn’t named in the federal indictment, he is currently under investigation for allegations of wire fraud and money laundering.

Related:

Only four people in his district donated to disgraced Rep. George Santos this year

While the people he’s representing aren’t donating, he’s getting funding from an alarming source.

Federal prosecutors accused Miele of contacting over a dozen potential campaign contributors between August and December of 2021. In those contacts, Miele allegedly pretended to be Meyer, sending emails that used Meyer’s name and title.

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The federal indictment against Miele said he sent a letter to Santos last September in which he admitted to “faking my identity” to donors. Miele, who earned 15% of every donation he solicited, described himself as being “high risk, high reward in everything I do.”

McCarthy said he notified Santos of Miele’s deception in August 2021, leading to Miele’s firing soon after. Miele was released on a $150,000 bond and faces a minimum of two years in prison if he’s convicted of the identity theft charge. His lawyer, Kevin H. Marino, said he “looks forward to complete vindication at trial as soon as possible.”

The New York Times noted that Santos has worked closely with Miele in the past, paying over $90,000 to Miele and a Florida company for fundraising help. Miele was also hired by Rise NY, a voter registration political action committee run by Santos’s sister.

Santos has admitted to fabricating large parts of his personal history during his election campaign. Out Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) and other House Democrats introduced a resolution to censure Santos for lying about his personal and professional life in order to get elected.

In May, Santos was charged in federal court with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, and one count of theft of public funds. Prosecutors allege that he illegally used campaign funds to buy designer clothes and other personal items. He has tried to fundraise off of these criminal charges.

Since joining Congress, Santos has cosponsored a bill to roll back LGBTQ+ civil rights and one to ban LGBTQ+ books from schools. He has also made public statements against transgender people and the so-called “radical rainbow mafia.” He also said that LGBTQ+ families “create troubled individuals.”