And when you ask them, ‘How much should we give?’ Oo they only answer ‘Don’t worry, we’ll help ourselves.’

More indictments for the Sticky Fingers Paul Pantry of NY-3.

U.S. Rep. George Santos stole the identities of donors to his campaign and then used their credit cards to ring up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges, according to a new indictment filed Tuesday.

He then wired some of the money to his own personal bank account, prosecutors said, while using the rest to inflate his campaign coffers.

LOL. Remember way back in ancient times when the RNC’s six-figure shopping bill for a vice presidential candidate and family seemed beyond the pale? George Santos (if that is his name) understands his party’s real motto: Acquiris Quodcumquae Rapis and conducts himself accordingly. When House GOPs blocked House Dems’ efforts to kick him out in May, Santos, along with the rest of the world, understood that Republicans will no longer even pretend to care when one of their own gets caught elbow-deep in a cookie jar.

I don’t think people like Santos understand the concept of consequences. And he wouldn’t be the first Republican who thinks shouting unfair partisan persecution is a magic phrase that banishes legal problems. But he does typify the next inevitable stage in the party’s evolution. He’s is very open about the fact that he views everyone, including people on his side, as exploitable resources.

You can read the DOJ’s press release for the original 13-count indictment here. That one includes the welfare cheat allegations. Full text here.

The press release for the superseding 23-count indictment contains more proof of the depths of Santos’ Republicanism. Full text (from Politico) here.

For example, in December 2021, one contributor (the “Contributor”) texted Santos and others to make a contribution to his campaign, providing billing information for two credit cards. In the days after he received the billing information, Santos used the credit card information to make numerous contributions to his campaign and affiliated political committees in amounts exceeding applicable contribution limits, without the Contributor’s knowledge or authorization. To mask the true source of these contributions and thereby circumvent the applicable campaign contribution limits, Santos falsely identified the contributor for one of the charges as one of his relatives. In the following months, Santos repeatedly charged the Contributor’s credit card without the Contributor’s knowledge or authorization, attempting to make at least $44,800 in charges and repeatedly concealing the true source of funds by falsely listing the source of funds as Santos himself, his relatives and other contributors. On one occasion, Santos charged $12,000 to the Contributor’s credit card, ultimately transferring the vast majority of that money into his personal bank account.

Some questions. Starting with, does credit card information for campaign donations normally go directly to the politician? Also, wouldn’t it be funny if Contributor #12 turned out to be Kevin McCarthy?

And of course Santos lied to his own party. Which makes sense. If people don’t want to be lied to they shouldn’t fraternize with or even listen to Republicans.

To create the public appearance that his campaign had met that financial benchmark and was otherwise financially viable, Santos and Marks agreed to falsely report to the FEC that at least 10 family members of Santos and Marks had made significant financial contributions to the campaign, when Santos and Marks both knew that these individuals had neither made the reported contributions nor given authorization for their personal information to be included in such false public reports. In addition, understanding that the national party committee relied on FEC fundraising data to evaluate candidates’ qualification for the program, Santos and Marks agreed to falsely report to the FEC that Santos had loaned the campaign significant sums of money, when, in fact, Santos had not made the reported loans and, at the time the loans were reported, did not have the funds necessary to make such loans. These false reported loans included a $500,000 loan, when Santos had less than $8,000 in his personal and business bank accounts.

The second indictment followed a guilty plea by Nancy Marks, his former campaign treasurer. Marks declined to decorate a bus axle for her former boss.

Last week, Marks, a longtime Long Island political bookkeeper, pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge, telling a judge she helped her former boss hoodwink prospective donors and Republican party officials by submitting bogus campaign finance reports.

Please stay on topic. Thanks.