[House Report 118-274]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                                                   House Calendar No. 50

 118th Congress }                                     { Report
   1st Session  }     HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES        { 118-274
                                                       
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

                                                  

                      IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGATIONS
                       RELATING TO REPRESENTATIVE
                             GEORGE SANTOS

                               ----------                              

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                          COMMITTEE ON ETHICS




 November 17, 2023.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed
                                
                                
                           ______

             U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 
 54-123                WASHINGTON : 2023
 
 
                                


                                                     House Calendar No. 50


        IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGATIONS RELATING TO REPRESENTATIVE 
                             GEORGE SANTOS
118th Congress }                                               {     Report
 1st Session   }         HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES              {   118-274
                                                                
_______________________________________________________________________

                                     

                                                  


                      IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGATIONS

                       RELATING TO REPRESENTATIVE

                             GEORGE SANTOS

                               __________

                              R E P O R T

                                 of the

                          COMMITTEE ON ETHICS




 November 17, 2023.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed
                          COMMITTEE ON ETHICS

MICHAEL GUEST, Mississippi,          SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania,
  Chairman                             Ranking Member
DAVID P. JOYCE, Ohio                 VERONICA ESCOBAR, Texas
JOHN H. RUTHERFORD, Florida          MARK DeSAULNIER, California
ANDREW R. GARBARINO, New York        DEBORAH K. ROSS, North Carolina
MICHELLE FISCHBACH, Minnesota        GLENN F. IVEY, Maryland

                              REPORT STAFF

              Thomas A. Rust, Chief Counsel/Staff Director
             Brittney Pescatore, Director of Investigations
                 Keelie Broom, Counsel to the Chairman
              David Arrojo, Counsel to the Ranking Member

                    Janet M. Foster, Senior Counsel
                      Sydney R. Bellwoar, Counsel
                      Christine E. Gwinn, Counsel
                         Melissa Chong, Counsel
                        Jennifer Seeba, Counsel
                     Caroline Taylor, Investigator
                   Peyton Wilmer, Investigative Clerk
                         LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL

                              ----------                              

                          House of Representatives,
                                       Committee on Ethics,
                                 Washington, DC, November 17, 2023.
Hon. Kevin F. McCumber,
Acting Clerk, House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
    Dear Mr. McCumber: Pursuant to clauses 3(a)(2) and 3(b) of 
Rule XI of the Rules of the House of Representatives, we 
herewith transmit the attached report, ``In the Matter of 
Allegations Relating to Representative George Santos.''
            Sincerely,
                                   Michael Guest,
                                           Chairman.
                                   Susan Wild,
                                           Ranking Member.
                            C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page
 I. FINDINGS..........................................................1
II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND.............................................2
III.STATEMENT UNDER HOUSE RULE XIII, CLAUSE 3(C)......................3

APPENDIX A: REPORT OF THE INVESTIGATIVE SUBCOMMITTEE.............     4




                                                   House Calendar No. 50
                                                   
                                                  
118th Congress}                                                 {  Report
                        HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
 1st Session  }                                                 { 118-274

======================================================================



 
 IN THE MATTER OF ALLEGATIONS RELATING TO REPRESENTATIVE GEORGE SANTOS

                                _______
                                

 November 17, 2023.--Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be 
                                printed

                                _______
                                

               Mr. Guest, from the Committee on Ethics, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

    In accordance with House Rule XI, clauses 3(a)(2) and 3(b), 
the Committee on Ethics (Committee) hereby submits the 
following Report to the House of Representatives:

                              I. FINDINGS

    On November 14, 2023, the Committee unanimously voted to 
adopt the Report of the Investigative Subcommittee (ISC), which 
is enclosed as Appendix A. The Committee also unanimously 
voted, pursuant to Committee Rule 28, to refer to the 
Department of Justice (DOJ) substantial evidence that 
Representative Santos: knowingly caused his campaign committee 
to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election 
Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged 
in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies 
LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the 
Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial 
Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House.
    Amid a deferral request from DOJ and Representative Santos' 
obfuscation and delay, the ISC expeditiously compiled a 
voluminous record consisting of over 170,000 pages of documents 
and testimony from dozens of witnesses, including financial 
statements, contemporaneous communications, and other 
materials. That record demonstrated the breadth of 
Representative Santos' misconduct. As discussed in the ISC's 
Report:

          Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit 
        every aspect of his House candidacy for his own 
        personal financial profit.
          He blatantly stole from his campaign.
          He deceived donors into providing what they thought 
        were contributions to his campaign but were in fact 
        payments for his personal benefit.
          He reported fictitious loans to his political 
        committees to induce donors and party committees to 
        make further contributions to his campaign--and then 
        diverted more campaign money to himself as purported 
        ``repayments'' of those fictitious loans.
          He used his connections to high value donors and 
        other political campaigns to obtain additional funds 
        for himself through fraudulent or otherwise 
        questionable business dealings.
          And he sustained all of this through a constant 
        series of lies to his constituents, donors, and staff 
        about his background and experience.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ISC Report at 4.

    Representative Santos continues to flout his statutory 
financial disclosure obligations and has failed to correct 
countless errors and omissions in his past FD Statements, 
despite being repeatedly reminded by the ISC and the Committee 
of his requirement to do so.
    The ISC also found that, despite his attempts to blame 
others for much of the misconduct, Representative Santos was a 
knowing and active participant in the wrongdoing. Particularly 
troubling was Representative Santos' lack of candor during the 
investigation itself.
    At the outset of the review, Representative Santos was 
given an opportunity, pursuant to Committee Rule 17(b), to 
submit a signed written statement responding to the allegations 
raised in a complaint filed by his fellow Members; he did not 
do so. The ISC requested that he provide all documents and 
information responsive to its Request for Information; he did 
not do so. The ISC asked him to voluntarily testify; he did not 
do so. The ISC also provided him the opportunity, pursuant to 
Committee Rule 19(b)(3), to provide a statement under oath, but 
he did not do so. Representative Santos' repeated public 
statements that he would like to prove his innocence and is 
cooperating with the ISC's investigation are belied by his 
consistent failure to meaningfully cooperate with the ISC's 
review.
    The ISC and the Committee have now completed their review 
of the allegations and charges and have amassed overwhelming 
evidence of his misconduct. This evidence is summarized in the 
ISC's Report.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\Consistent with Committee Rule 25, the Report includes any 
evidence that could be considered substantially favorable to 
Representative Santos.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                       II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

    On November 9, 2023, the ISC transmitted a Report to the 
Committee summarizing its findings, which include substantial 
evidence that Representative Santos violated federal criminal 
laws and other standards of conduct within the Committee's 
jurisdiction. Based on the unique and unprecedented 
circumstances in this case, the ISC unanimously determined that 
the Committee's duty to safeguard the integrity of the House 
and the interests of justice warranted the immediate disclosure 
of its findings and recommended that the Committee refer 
evidence to DOJ. The ISC further recommended that the Committee 
adopt its Report and publicly condemn Representative Santos for 
his conduct, which the ISC found to be beneath the dignity of 
the office and to have brought severe discredit upon the House.
    The ISC was in regular contact with DOJ to ensure that its 
investigation did not unduly interfere with the ongoing 
prosecution of Representative Santos. Those communications led 
the ISC to delay its review at multiple stages of the 
investigation and to forgo certain investigative steps.
    The Committee agreed with the ISC's recommendation that 
these findings should be disclosed immediately, and evidence 
referred to DOJ. The Committee's referral to DOJ includes 
evidence of alleged violations beyond those Representative 
Santos is currently charged with in the pending criminal 
matter. Committee and House Rules provide a process by which 
the ISC can bring formal charges through a Statement of Alleged 
Violations, which would then be subject to a lengthy trial-like 
public adjudication and sanctions hearing by the Committee, 
after which the Committee can make a recommendation to the full 
House. Given Representative Santos' failure to meaningfully 
engage with the Committee to date, proceeding with that 
adjudicatory process would only provide Representative Santos 
with further opportunity to delay any accountability for his 
actions and could risk interfering with the ongoing criminal 
prosecution. The ISC thus chose to report its findings to the 
Committee, pursuant to Committee Rule 19(g), and the Committee 
has decided to send that Report to the full House, pursuant to 
Committee Rule 21(a).
    The Committee encourages all Members of the House to 
carefully read the ISC's Report, which details grave and 
pervasive campaign finance violations and fraudulent activity 
by Representative Santos, and take any action they deem 
appropriate and necessary, based on the ISC's findings, to 
fulfill the House's Constitutional mandate to police the 
conduct of its Members.

           III. STATEMENT UNDER HOUSE RULE XIII, CLAUSE 3(C)

    The Committee made no special oversight findings in this 
Report. No budget statement is submitted. No funding is 
authorized by any measure in this Report.