American North, American South, Eastern European—Whatever suits
George Anthony Devolder Santos (b. 1988) is reportedly the son of Brazilian citizen Fátima Aziza Caruso Horta Devolder who migrated to the U.S. state of Florida in 1985 “as a migrant worker to pick beans” and later moved to New York City where she “worked as a housekeeper, cook, and nanny” (Santos’ father, George Santos, Gercino António dos Santos Jr., a house painter). The son obtained a “high school equivalency diploma.” Though the son has claimed college graduation, investigations have concluded that “There is no known record of Santos ever having attended any college or university; both colleges he claimed to attend have said they have no record of him.”Malfeasance means wrongdoing or misconduct especially by public officials
Misfeasance refers to the performance of lawful acts in an illegal or improper manner
Gaming the system means taking dishonest advantage of, i.e., cheating
Corrupt (as adjective) may mean degenerate, depraved, miscreant, nefarious, perverse; crooked; (one who seeks) sordid advantage with little regard to moral or legal bars (standards, checks) synonymous mercenary, unethical, unprincipled, unscrupulous, venal.
Synonymous for LAZY are indolent, unindustrious, neglectful, negligent, remiss, shiftless—direct opposites of diligent, hardworking, industrious
Degeneracy, Shiftlessness, WrongdoingA Timeline
2008 (circa), George Anthony Devolder Santos joins his mother in Brazil; “two former acquaintances said that he competed as a drag queen in Brazilian beauty pageants in 2008 using the drag name Kitara Ravache.” “During his stay in Brazil (circa 2008-2011), “an acquaintance paid him and his mother to play bingo, which was illegal gambling.”
In Brazil, George Anthony Devolder Santos “forged checks stolen from a man his mother was caring for…. When writing the checks, Santos presented identification bearing his photo but the check owner’s name.
2010-
Brazilian Police charged Santos with check fraud (Santos left Brazil while the check fraud case against him there was ongoing) and the Brazilian court archived the case “because authorities there were unable to locate Santos.” (January 2023, “Rio de Janeiro prosecutors announced that they would revive the fraud charges because Santos’s whereabouts had become known.”
2011 - 2012
George Anthony Devolder Santos moves to New York City (and works) “as a customer service representative at a call center for Dish Network in College Point, Queens” (Santos claimed and later retracted that held simultaneous employment at Citigroup) During this period, he is reportedly “evicted from rented Queens Borough properties (in Jackson Heights, Whitestone, and Sunnyside) three times” “over unpaid rent.”
“Throughout his career,” George Anthony Devolder Santos “has used various aliases” such as “‘Anthony Zabrovsky’ (to fundraise for a pet charity or claim a particular ethnic heritage) and ‘Anthony Devolder’” (for other dealings)”
2018
Using the name “Anthony Devolder,” he knocks on the door of a candidate for the New York State Senate, asks about “volunteering for her campaign, …” says “he worked on Wall Street and could get large donors there to contribute.” He takes “a few campaign signs,” after which the candidate’s “staff heard little further from him.”
2019-2020-2021
November 2019, Santos launched his first campaign for the U.S. Congress; and in mid-January 2020, he began working for a Florida-based alternative investment firm (Harbor City Capital) against which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil suit (in 2021-2022) “accusing the company of running a $17 million Ponzi scheme.”
According to the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Santos ran an “unsuccessful candidate for election to the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress” (Wikipedia reports he refused to concede).
Santos was reportedly paid by Harbor City “at least through April 2021.” He then establishes something called “the Devolder Organization” concerning which Santos’ “financial disclosure forms (list no) clients using this company’s services.”
The Santos political campaign organization during 2020 was given the descriptive “a walking campaign-finance violation.” He known for (GAMING): “frequently volunteering ideas for getting around restrictions” such as having donors who had reached their donation limit donate the funds to other party members’ PACs; and then have those donations cycle back to Santos or his campaign enterprise.
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) reportedly dispatched “20 letters to the Santos campaign” during 2021 and 2022 regarding disclosure reporting problems. “Fourteen letters concerned either contributors who had apparently exceeded the $2,900 per cycle limit and insufficient information on the terms and any co-guarantors; or collateral of loans to the campaign.”
Santos organization reports “also unlawfully described contributions as coming from anonymous donors.”
2022
George Anthony Devolder Santos on a podcast in early December 2022 tells “two Brazilian journalists that he plans “to donate his congressional salary, dividing it among four (unnamed non-governmental organizations …, claiming that he was independently wealthy and did not need a salary.” The source of his “claimed wealth” Santos also “refused to clarify.”
A Santos email offers “a bus trip to Washington that included an opportunity to attend his swearing-in ceremony and a campaign-led tour of the ‘Capitol grounds’—HITCH: “a “$100” to “$500” “donation.” Ethical standards promulgated by Congress prohibit selling public office, selling public officials, or selling the U.S. Capitol into which category fits Santos’ “charging for tours of the U.S. Capitol.”
2023
Santos was elected and sworn in to the One Hundred Eighteenth Congress (January 3, 2023-present) https://bioguide.congress.gov/search/bio/S001222
On his House of Representatives official website Santos describes himself as “the first non incumbent openly-gay Republican elected to Congress” (https://santos.house.gov/about)
[Wikipedia article notes that between 2012 and 2019 Santos was “married to a woman.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Santos]
Congressman Santos, in January, denies having been “a drag queen.” He termed “the allegations ‘categorically false’ and accused the media of making ‘outrageous claims about (his) life.’” A couple of days after this statement the congressman is quoted saying “‘I young and I had fun at a festival.’”
On January 11, Congressman Santos is urged by four congressional colleagues to submit his resignation from the House of Representatives. Santos refuses to resign.
In the first weeks of the 118th Congress, Congressman Santos cosponsors “a resolution calling for the impeachment of “U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas.”
February News Reporting: George Anthony Devolder Santos
“George Santos officially under investigation from House Ethics Committee,” by Brad Reed “Scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is now facing yet another investigation.” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has confirmed to a major news outlet that “the House Committee on Ethics has launched a formal inquiry into Santos.” The congressman is said to be facing allegation that include these.
- Sexually harassing an aide,
- Stealing money from a disabled veteran that was intended to care for his dying service dog, and
- Lying about nearly every single aspect of his work, academic, and family history
The Ethics Committee
Three main functions
The Ethics Committee, through an “Advice and Education” (non-investigatory) office, answers questions and provides ethics training to Members, officers, and employees of the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Committee investigates and adjudicates “any alleged violations” by House Members, officers, or employees of the House rules or any related statutes.
The Committee reviews “financial disclosure statements filed by Members, candidates, senior staff, and shared staff.” https://ethics.house.gov/about
Office of Congressional Ethics
The Office of Congressional Ethics was established by the U.S. House of Representatives as “an independent, non-partisan entity charged with receiving and reviewing allegations of misconduct concerning House members and staff. When appropriate, the OCE refers matters to the Committee on Ethics. https://oce.house.gov/Ethics Committee News January 9-11
“House Republicans voted to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, and George Santos said it was ‘fantastic’” by Bryan Metzger“The House of Representatives has passed a new set of rules to govern the chamber that will severely weaken the ability of the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate members of Congress suspected of wrongdoing.”
Three Congresses ago, Members of the House of Representatives “voted in conference to subsume the OCE … under the House Ethics Committee.” This action “effectively neutered” the Office until a presidential tweeted opposition effected a reversal of course.
This latest action “will make it extraordinarily difficult for the body… to have sufficient resources to carry out its work.
This is a regressive move in that this particular office operating “independently of Congress … has generally appeared more effective—than the self-policing House and Senate ethics committees—at investigating allegations of wrongdoing.” Source: Business Insider, https://www.businessinsider.com/house-gop-votes-gut-office-congressional-ethics-george-santos-fantastic-2023-1
Upshot
The Citizenry Acquiesces and Congress regresses into a jungle without Rules, Checks, and Standards. There must be some absolutes that are applicable to all; without these the center will not hold.
The absence of principles means that all sense, all actuality of law and morality (that is to say not merely in words, empty by definition, but in determined and enforceable actions) are in freefall, decline, utter failure. That which is essential is no more. What should be dependable cannot be depended on. The center sinks into oblivion.
Composition and Commentary excluding quoted material and individual images
Copyright © Carolyn LaDelle Bennett
Author’s links: www.BennettsAmericanEpitaph.com
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