George Santos’ Charges Are a Bad Omen for Donald Trump

Not all lies are crimes. But some damn sure are. And that especially goes for lying to political donors, before making off with their money.

Accusations that right-wing political figures engaged in just that kind of rule-breaking have recently dogged some high-profile characters, including Rep. George Santos, who prosecutors say embezzled $50,000 from donors. Those generous folks thought their money was going to pay for campaign ads. Instead, Santos allegedly used it for pricey designer clothes and to cover his credit card bills. 

There’s also the infamous, triple-shirted, ultra-MAGA provocateur, Steve Bannon, who was charged with ripping off donors to a private wall project on the U.S. southern border.  

Santos and Bannon aren’t the only ones who should be worried about this particular point of law. So should former President Donald Trump. 

That’s because Special Counsel Jack Smith is now reportedly probing whether Trump’s frantic fundraising in the wake of the 2020 election might have crossed the line. And the charges against Santos and Bannon show federal prosecutors are serious about going after politicians who mislead their donors, according to former prosecutors and legal experts.

“Prosecutors used similar theories in the Santos and Bannon cases: Wire fraud based on lies to donors or investors,” said Barbara McQuade, the former top federal prosecutor in Detroit. “Wire fraud is a bread-and-butter charge for prosecutors because it can be simple to prove with documents lies to defraud people out of money.”  

Smith’s team is trying to find out whether Trump and his aides knew that the former president lost the 2020 election while continuing to fundraise off bogus election fraud claims anyway, the New York Times reported in April. That means investigating possible wire fraud charges in connection with raising up to $250 million through a political action committee, according to the Times. 

The irony is that all three episodes raise the question of whether right-wing political figures defrauded their own biggest supporters—those people who proved their loyalty by handing over cash.

In that sense, the Santos and Bannon cases could be a dangerous precedent for Trump. 

“The investigation Jack Smith is doing does look very similar to what we’ve just seen brought against George Santos,” Mary McCord, a former acting assistant Attorney General and former prosecutor on Washington D.C., told MSNBC.

Santos was charged with 13 criminal counts, including wire fraud and money laundering. He pleaded not guilty and vowed to fight the charges. Trump, Santos, and Bannon have all denied wrongdoing. Trump and Santos have both claimed that prosecutors are targeting them as part of a politically-driven “witch hunt.” Bannon has likewise characterized the charges against him as political. 

“This is what happens in the last days of a dying regime,” Bannon told reporters as officers escorted him through the hallway in handcuffs last September. “They will never shut me up. They'll have to kill me first. I have not yet begun to fight.”

In late 2022, Santos allegedly asked a political consultant to tell donors that their funds would be used to buy TV ads for his campaign for Congress. A pair of donors contributed $25,000 each on the basis of those assurances. But the money was instead moved to Santos’ personal account and used to buy “luxury designer clothing,” pay off credit cards,  make a car payment, and make bank transfers to Santos’ associates, prosecutors wrote in the indictment. 

Prosecutors in New York accused Bannon of helping to siphon funds from an online crowdfunding scheme that raised more than $15 million to build a border wall, even though Bannon publicly insisted that the group’s leadership would not get paid. Bannon was charged with money laundering, conspiracy, and fraud. He pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled for November. 

 “It is a crime to turn a profit by lying to donors, and in New York, you will be held accountable,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in unveiling the charges against Bannon last year. “Stephen Bannon acted as the architect of a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud thousands of donors across the country.” 

Santos was also accused of claiming $24,000 worth of unemployment insurance benefits during the pandemic, even though he had a job and was pulling down a $120,000-a-year salary, according to an indictment unsealed on May 10. He’s shown no sign of planning to resign from his seat in Congress, where he represents New York’s 13th Congressional district. He faces a maximum 20 years in prison if he is convicted on the top charges against him. 

On Wednesday, the House voted to refer a Democrat-supported resolution to expel Santos over to the House Ethics Committee. That move effectively allowed House Republicans to avoid taking an explicit position on whether Santos should be booted out of Congress, and granted him a temporary shield from expulsion.