NY-03: Why Are These Newbie Donors Maxing Out to George Santos?
ince his May 10 indictment, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has brought in a surprising amount of money—about $133,000, according to his new campaign finance report—but what’s more interesting than Santos just raising money is who’s been donating to him and why.
The short answer? It may have something to do with Guo Wengui, the self-proclaimed billionaire who defected from China and is now an enthusiastic supporter of American right-wing causes.
The vast majority of Santos’ fundraising haul—a total of $101,861—rolled in over the course of just three days, between May 20 and May 22. All of those donors had Chinese surnames, almost all of them contributed the maximum allowable amount of $3,300, and 26 of them had never given to Santos previously, according to Federal Election Commission data. For 14 of those donors, it was their first political contribution ever.
On June 23, that same pattern returned, this time to the tune of $24,100, all from donors who had never given to him previously. And the bulk of that cash, it turns out, went right back into Santos’ personal pocket.
In all, Santos received $125,961 from those donors. About $66,000 of that amount came from donors who had never given to any federal committee before, and more than $50,000 came from first-time Santos donors. Of all his donors this quarter, only five had given to him previously—accounting for just $157 of his $133,000 haul.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-are-these-newbie-donors-maxing-out-to-george-santos
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