George Santos campaign finance disclosure shows more refunds to donors than contributions

Rep. George Santos’s (R-N.Y.) campaign finance disclosures reveal more money has been paid back as refunds than has come in as contributions since the start of the year.

Between January 1 and March 31, Santos’s campaign received $5,333 in individual contributions, but spent $8,353 in refunds to individual donors, according to his campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The FEC filing indicates the refunds were the Santos campaign’s only disbursements during that three-month period, with no operating expenditures or staff expenses listed. There were also no loan repayments listed, despite the committee owing $715,000 in loans that the filings reveal were made by Santos from personal funds. According to the report, the committee has just over $25,000 in cash on hand.

Santos came under scrutiny last year after he admitted to fabricating details on his resume as he was running for Congress, including falsely claiming that he’d earned a college degree and misrepresenting his work experience. 

Several state, federal and congressional groups are now looking into the freshman congressman and his campaign finances. The House Ethics Committee opened an investigation into a number of controversies surrounding Santos, and the congressman earlier this year decided to step down from his House committee assignments, shortly after being sworn in. 

Santos’s former campaign treasurer Nancy Marks, who worked on his 2020 and 2022 campaigns, resigned in January amid the campaign finance scrutiny. The new treasurer listed is Andrew Olson.

Santos last month filed paperwork with the FEC for a 2024 reelection bid, though he’s not officially launched a campaign.