George Santos campaign paid staffer nearly $100k to pretend to be Kevin McCarthy's chief of staff and get money from donors

• A fundraiser for George Santos allegedly posed as Kevin McCarthy's chief of staff, per CNBC.

• He is accused of impersonating the House speaker's top aide in calls and emails to wealthy donors.

• According to FEC filings, the fundraiser was paid almost $100k by Santos' campaign.

A fundraiser for Rep. George Santos allegedly posed as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's chief of staff in a bid to fundraise money from wealthy donors, according to CNBC.

Sam Miele, who worked for Santos' campaign, is said to have impersonated Dan Meyer, who has served as McCarthy's chief of staff since 2019, in phone calls to donors during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, people familiar with the matter said, per CNBC.

The Washington Times was the first to report the claim of impersonation last month, when it said that the fundraiser allegedly posing as Meyer also used a fake email address to send follow-up emails to donors.

A source, a New York GOP operative who did not disclose their name, told The Washington Times that McCarthy's aides first became aware of the allegations after a GOP donor flagged contact from the supposed McCarthy aide as "unusual" in August 2021.

According to CNBC,  Santos' campaign paid Miele almost $50,000 for fundraising during the embattled lawmaker's failed 2020 run for Congress. Miele was also paid over $42,000 during the 2022 cycle, Federal Election Commission data shows, per CNBC.

Santos' lawyer, Joe Murray, told CNBC that Miele was "let go about a year ago."

Meyer, McCarthy's office, and Santos' campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Brendan Fischer, a deputy executive director of the watchdog Documented, and Robert Maguire, a research director at the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, both told CNBC that the actions could be seen as criminal conduct.

"A person who misrepresented themselves as speaking on behalf of a candidate in order to raise money may have committed a criminal violation, and any other person who knowingly and willfully participated in the plan could also face criminal charges," Fischer said in an email, per CNBC.

The allegation comes as Santos, who is under fire for embellishing much of his resume, is increasingly the subject of complaints about campaign finance violations.

Insider reported that End Citizens United, a left-leaning advocacy group, filed complaints on Monday with the Office of Congressional Ethics, the Department of Justice, and the FEC. That same day, American Bridge also filed a complaint with the OCE, arguing that Santos had falsified his financial disclosures.

The non-partisan watchdog Campaign Legal Center (CLC) also filed a complaint with the FEC on Monday, alleging that Santos and his 2022 campaign violated campaign-finance laws by engaging in a "straw donor scheme."

Santos was recently revealed to have fabricated key details about his education, employment, and religious background.

Local, state, federal, and international authorities are now investigating the controversial Republican lawmaker.

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