the republican George Santos He is not only in the middle of controversy for having lied about his origins, his education and financial statements, but for the path he followed to finance his electoral campaign. After it was revealed that the representative paid a staff member close to $100,000 to pose as Kevin McCarty’s chief of staff to get money from donors, it is now known that the New Yorker accepted campaign contributions from an immigrant smuggler.
Italian Rocco Oppedisano, who was expelled from the United States in 2019 for piloting a yacht full of undocumented immigrants and $200,000 in cash to Florida, made a “probably illegal” donation to Santos, the Daily Beast reported.
According to the aforementioned outlet, Santos was also supported by Oppedisano’s blood family and even appointed the immigrant smuggler’s brother, Joseph, and his niece named Tina to operate his business. “Small Business Coalition for Santos”.
Among the “dirty laundry” that they have taken from the Republican, he also highlights spending $25,443.64 on II Bacon since the Republican launched his first race for his Long Island-Queens seat in 2020, as learned from federal campaign finance records. In addition, the campaign reported that owed II Bacon $18,773.54 for the luxurious election night party held last November.
Legal experts noted that more than half a dozen of those expenses marked as “Food and drinks” were suspiciously reported at $199.99, exactly one cent below the threshold that would have required them to keep receipts for the transaction.
“Money transfers cannot be structured in a way that intentionally circumvents the law,” he said. Jordan Libowitzcommunications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
But according to the report, What is really “disturbing” for Santos is the “gift” that the Italian gave him on September 22, 2022. “There are some things where there is no gray area with the FEC, and one of them is donations from foreign nationals,” Libowitz said, noting that such a gift is strictly prohibited.
Court and property records show that Rocco Oppedisano stripped of his permanent resident status after a drug and firearms bust in the houses belonging to his brother in 2009, in addition, the feds accused Oppedisano of not only smuggling immigrants, but also illegally seeking re-entry.
Officials brought the yacht to Haulover Inlet, where Customs and Border Patrol agents entered and discovered 14 Chinese immigrants and a citizen of the Bahamas on boardplus more than $200,000 in cash stuffed into bedroom walls.
It may interest you:
– A member of George Santos’ staff would have usurped Kevin McCarthy’s assistant to raise money
– Democrats demand that George Santos be investigated for his lies
– While George Santos amasses a good fortune, his sister faces eviction from her apartment for debt
–George Santos earns a couple of boos after casting his first vote for Kevin McCarthy
Source: La Opinion
