Controversial congressman Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) is under fire once again—this time for his alleged ties with a Trump confidant, the cousin of a Russian oligarch.
The Washington Post reported on Sunday that Andrew Intrater—once a Trump ally and the cousin of a sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg—and his wife each gave the maximum $5,800 to the New York congressman’s campaign committee.
Also, Intrater apparently put hundreds of thousands of dollars into Santos’ former employer, Harbor City Capital, which was accused of running a $17 million Ponzi scheme; Santos previously claimed that Andrew Intrater’s company, the investment firm Columbus Nova, was his “client.” Neither Santos nor Intrater responded to The Washington Post‘s requests for comment.
Intrater was previously in the news after it came to light that Columbus Nova paid Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen half a million dollars for consulting work. Intrater and Cohen also exchanged hundreds of phone calls and texts during Trump’s 2016 campaign. These exchanges were investigated as part of Mueller’s probe into Trump’s connections to the Kremlin and potential 2016 election interference.
His ties to Intrater are just the latest in the turbulent uncovering of the New York congressman’s finances. According to the House Oversight Committee Chair on Sunday, Santos will be removed from the House if he is found in violation of campaign finance laws.
“He’s a bad guy,” House Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) said on Saturday on CNN’s “State of the Union”: “It’s not up to me or any other member of Congress to determine whether he can be kicked out for lying. Now, if he broke campaign finance laws, then he will be removed from Congress.”
Guest hosting Steve Bannon’s “War Room: Pandemic” podcast, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) questioned Santos about his campaign finances. “One of the principal critiques I’ve heard is a lot of money was donated to your campaign by you—$700,000, I believe—where did it come from?”
“Well I’ll tell you where it didn’t come from. It didn’t come from China, or Ukraine, or Burisma,” Santos responded. When Gaetz asked again, Santos stumbled, “I’ve worked my entire life. I’ve lived an honest life. I’ve never been accused, sued of any bad doings. So it’s the equity of my hardworking self that I invested inside of me.”
As more is revealed about the congressman, calls for Santos’ resignation have mounted, especially after he was caught falsifying his resume.
