George Santos gives himself a new title, shows no growth.

New York GOP Rep. George Santos Appoints Himself as Campaign Treasurer

Background

New York GOP Rep. George Santos is facing federal charges that include 13 counts of money laundering, fraud, theft of public funds, and other alleged financial misconduct. He is also under investigation by the House Ethics Committee. Santos needs a campaign treasurer that can inspire confidence if he has any hope to continue in office. However, he managed to raise eyebrows on Friday by appointing himself as his campaign treasurer, effectively removing any kind of ethical check on how his campaign funds are spent.

The Details

In filings to the Federal Election Commission on Friday, Santos cut out the middleman and appointed himself as his campaign treasurer. He has had several middlemen, including some that didn’t want to be involved in his campaign. The move came less than two weeks after federal prosecutors dropped a 13-count indictment on Santos. He is accused of creating a company that he convinced people to donate to under the pretense it would be used to support his congressional campaign and then using the funds for personal expenses, collecting unemployment benefits while raking in $120,000 working at an investment firm, lying on his congressional disclosure forms, and other allegations.

Analysis

Santos has been stripped of his committee assignments and has lost the support of anyone within his own orbit. He should now be focused on staying out of jail, not remaining in the House of Representatives. However, he seems to be delusional, stating that he will be the chairman of a committee in a couple of years if you just look at the standards of Congress. Santos has managed to create a snapshot of all the dysfunction of Washington in a single, neat package. He combines the preposterous self-mythologizing of Joe Biden, the CYA tactics of Hillary Clinton, and the generalized whiff of financial malfeasance that seems to surround every major modern political campaign in the 21st century.