OPINION: The Problem with George Santos-Types Holding Public Office
Only Member of Congress Not to File Annual Financial Disclosure
Welcome to another dysfunctional week in Washington without a speaker of the House!
This week, I’m focusing more on a case study on why Hunter’s Political Wealth Index is so singularly fixated on politicians’ personal wealth and reporting on it.
Rep. George “Anthony Devolder” Santos, R-NY, has been in the news plenty over his first — and hopefully, only — term in Congress for charges including fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and false statements.
As CREW has already reported, Santos is the only member not to file a financial disclosure this year. The fines or civil penalties for not doing so are minimal. Staff for the House Clerk’s office that handles financial disclosures did not respond to multiple requests for comment on whether or not Santos has been fined or paid fines yet.
Santos is setting a dangerous precedent that follows up on Donald Trump’s refusal to voluntarily release tax returns while serving as president.
Over a decade ago, an editor I didn’t respect enough warned me about the dangerous slope that was starting to accelerate more than in past decades with politicians lying or at the minimum, obfuscating the truth in this “post-truth” world.
The danger of Santos refusing to file his disclosure on time or likely accurately is what comes next. He must be held accountable for breaking the very rules that he voted on accepting with the passing of the House rules at the start of every Congress.
Even Sen. Menendez disclosed the gold bars in several years of forms that are at the heart of his corruption and bribery charges. That may be the only time you see me compliment a career New Jersey politician’s integrity.
1. Rep. George Anthony Devolder-Santos Net Worth Reportedly Grew By $2 Million in Less Than Two Years
Luckily, Rep. Santos has filed three disclosure forms in the past:
A candidate report & amended form during his 2020 campaign were both filed on the same day: May 11, 2020.
A candidate report during his 2022 campaign was filed on September 6, 2020.
The Justice Department’s press release announcing his 13 indictments in May details his allegedly false statements in these forms.
If Rep. Santos truly went from no reported assets to at least $2.6 million worth of assets in under two years, then he should be held up as the most promising capitalist of the year.
2. Why Does This Matter? Power Over Policy
Yes, Rep. Santos is just one of 441 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Yes, the non-voting delegates of disenfranchised — not “woke”-speak, literally the definition — U.S. territories count.
Yes, Rep. Devolder or Santos is likely a “one-hit” wonder and will lose re-election.
However, only one fellow House Republican has called for his expulsion. Congratulations, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), you won the “Decent Thing To Do Person of the Week” award.
Former speaker Kevin McCarthy essentially blocked Democrats’ efforts to force an expulsion of Santos vote in May.
When the balance of power in a two-party system is so narrow, every voting member counts. This has become painfully apparent in recent weeks as only eight members were able to prevent the House of Representatives from operating by voting against their party’s leader McCarthy as speaker. Grasping for political power and control has outweighed common sense.
McCarthy needed Santos’ support and vote to remain speaker. Republicans hold such a slim majority in the House — and Democrats hold an even smaller majority in the Senate — that party leaders and nearly all their colleagues in either party are willing to overlook their colleagues’ active criminal investigations. Sen. John Fetterman is the ONLY Senate Democrat to publicly call for a Menendez expulsion.
I’ll strongly defend the numerous benefits of having career public servants but elected officials stop being public servants when actions of party loyalty and power — like fixation on holding onto chamber control or permitting a chamber to be leaderless for three weeks — are prioritized over legislating and doing their arguably only job i.e. fund the government.
3. What’s Next
Selfishly, continue reading and subscribing to this newsletter to see how elected U.S. officials can be held somewhat accountable by reporting on their personal finances. Public trust in the federal government is near an all-time low according to the Pew Research Center.
Yes, a full Wealth of Congress report will drop in the coming weeks outlining the “richest and poorest” members of Congress. You can even see that list for just the Senate now:
What you won’t see from me in Hunter’s Political Wealth Index is clickbait, “copy this stock trade” that a member made over 45 days ago. You can find plenty of that elsewhere.
If you missed the soft launch, read this for more details about what to expect.
I’ll leave you to start your week with a quote from the original astro-senator John Glenn when announcing his retirement from the U.S. Senate:
“Don't take [the United States of] America and the values reflected in our form of government for granted. And never forget that in our democracy, the government is not them, it is us.”
Editorial note: While this is an opinion piece in the “post-truth” world, it strives to obtain objectivity and factual correctness. Leave a comment or email the writer if you believe to have any fact-based corrections.