Rep. George Santos’ treasurer says congressman knowingly filed false donor reports

Nancy Marks, the former advisor and campaign treasurer for out gay Rep. George Santos (R-NY), told a federal court on Thursday that Santos illegally “submitted bogus campaign finance reports” to help attract more donors to his campaign.

She made these claims while pleading guilty to conspiring to defraud the U.S. government. If true, her claims could help convict Santos on the 13 fraud and financial criminal charges he is currently facing. Her lawyer has also indicated that she’s willing to testify against Santos in his upcoming trial.

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Marks said Santos falsely wrote in campaign finance reports that he had loaned $500,000 to his campaign, despite never doing so and not having the money to do so. Santos did this “to make it look like he had a well-funded campaign, which might attract other donors,” she said, according to the Associated Press. She also said that she gave the Federal Elections Commission a fake list of donors, listing the names of real people who had neither donated nor given his campaign permission to use their names.

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Marks’ lawyer Ray Perini told reporters that Santos had “mentally seduced” his client into committing these crimes. Perini didn’t say whether prosecutors had asked Marks to testify against Santos, but Perini indicated she’d be willing to do so if asked.

“If we get a subpoena we’ll do the right thing,” he said

Marks’ guilty plea and possible cooperation with prosecutors could spell doom for Santos seeing as his 13 criminal charges include embezzling money from his campaign and lying in congressional financial disclosures.

Santos’ next court date is on October 27. While he has pleaded not guilty to the charges, he may also be seeking his own plea deal with prosecutors. Court documents that Santos filed in early September said that he and prosecutors “have continued to discuss possible paths forward in this matter.”

Marks is the second aide of Santos to face criminal charges. Samuel Miele, Santos’ former campaign aide, has been charged with four counts of wire fraud and one count of identity theft for allegedly sending fundraising emails and phone calls in which he claimed to be Dan Meyer, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) now-retired chief of staff. Miele has pleaded not guilty.

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.”