The Daily Santos: Sick puppies

Somehow there's another dog story.

It’s been another busy stretch for George, what with getting called a “sick puppy” at the State of the Union by America’s most famous Mormon politician. It looks like he’s bounced back from the embarrassment of getting publicly shamed by a man who blows out his birthday candles like an alien impersonating a human, but there are already new reasons for him to cower in shame.

He stole puppies, maybe

It may not be as bad as withholding money from a dying dog, but in 2017 Santos was charged with puppy theft in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country. 

The story, as reported by Jacqueline Sweet for Politico, goes a little something like this: George wrote $15,125 in checks to get a bunch of puppies from various breeders in PA who he then brought to an adoption event at a pet store in Staten Island. When the breeders reported the checks were bad, Santos claimed his checkbook had been stolen and the matter was eventually expunged. 

Queens-based attorney Tiffany Bogosian, who’s a former middle school classmate of our friend George, spilled the beans about helping him out with the matter. She told Politico that Santos claimed he talked his way out of the charges by telling PA prosecutors that he worked for the SEC. “I did think it was so weird at the time that his checks didn’t have his address or phone number listed on them,” Bogosian said. “To be honest, even at the time I questioned it.”

But Bogosian’s experience mirrors so many that others have had with George: He undoubtedly knows how to charm people and tell a convincing yarn. And though he initially sets off some mild alarm bells, he ultimately wins them over and gets what he wants. There’s simply no way he would’ve made it to Congress without this skill. If only you could charm your way out of local, state, federal and congressional ethics investigations.

His colleagues really want him gone

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) filed a short and sweet House resolution today stating Santos should be “expelled from the House of Representatives.” 

Garcia, who, like Santos, is openly gay, explained his motivation on Thursday:

"George Santos has no place in Congress. He has lied about the horrific Pulse massacre, his connections to the Holocaust and 9/11, his qualifications for office, and faces serious campaign finance violations that he has recently all but admitted to. His continued pattern of fraud and deception is especially worrisome to our own LGBTQ+ community, and it's time we act and immediately expel him from Congress."

It’s notable that Garcia introduced the bill along with reps Becca Balint (D-Vt.) and Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.) who are both LGBTQ+ freshmen members as well. Ritchie Torres, an openly gay congressman from New York serving his second term, is a co-sponsor of the bill, and has been perhaps the most vocal critic of Santos since the world learned of his lies. Last week, Torres called for the SEC to investigate Santos for possible securities violations during his time as an employee at his old Ponzi scheme company. 

Now George claims that he’s being SILENCED.

Even though the stakes are serious, his colleagues are still managing to have a little fun.

Going long

In what appears to be the first long-form piece on the Santos saga, CBS News has premiered it’s 22-minute documentary “Campaign of Deceit: The Election of George Santos." It delves into his time at Harbor City Capital, and actually features the previously mentioned Tiffany Bogosian, who introduced a client of hers to Santos as a potential investor.

The full doc is streaming here.  

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