Rep. George Santos accused of taking money to hire someone

Based on recent events, it would seem as though the walls are closing in on U.S. Rep. George Santos — but as has happened many other times, Santos is forging on.

In addition to everything surrounded his 13-charge indictment, Santos’s communications director, Naysa Woomer — with whom the Herald worked closely to secure its exclusive interview with the congressman — resigned on May 17. According to the New York Post, Woomer wrote in her resignation letter that she was “honored to tender my resignation,” and took parting shots at Santos, saying, “You never took one point of professional advice given.”

Woomer was allegedly caught on tape saying she hoped Santos was expelled from Congress.

Also on May 17, House Democrats introduced a resolution to do just that, but the matter was referred to the House Ethics Committee by a vote of 221-204. Two of Santos’s Long Island colleagues, Reps. Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota, voted to refer the matter to the committee, saying they felt it was the best way to get Santos out of office. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, another Long Island congressman who sits on the Ethics Committee, expressed support for their actions.

But despite D’Esposito and LaLota’s insistence that they want him out, it appears as though Santos was grateful to all the Republicans who voted to refer the matter. According to Business Insider, members of

Santos’s staff hand-delivered letters of appreciation to Republicans who did so.

Santos hired Jason D. Boles as his campaign treasurer on May 20. Boles has worked for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in the past. This comes after “Andrew Olson,” Santos’s previous campaign treasurer, supposedly resigned — although no one was ever able to reach Olson, and there are questions about whether Andrew Olson is a real person. Olson had been named treasurer following the resignation of Nancy Marks in January, amid questions about the accuracy of Federal Election Commission filings.

Santos has maintained that he opposes the Sands Casino, which the Nassau County Legislature recently voted to approve. In a tweet on May 24, he criticized County Executive Bruce Blakeman for trying to take attention of the controversy surrounding the casino.

“Bruce Blackman is in Manhattan (out of his jurisdiction and on taxpayer dime) engaging in distraction tactics,” Santos wrote, spelling the county executive’s surname wrong. “He doesn’t want anyone talking about the corrupt deal he’s cutting for a Casino in Nassau County. Stop the casino now!”

Controversy remains on the staff end for Santos, as former employee Derek Myers claimed he had to pay Vish Burra, Santos’s director of operations, to get a job in his office. Myers briefly worked as an aide for Santos in January, but didn’t even make it a week before resigning and accusing Santos of making sexual advances toward him. Santos denied that allegation, calling it “comical.”

Santos has remained a popular cultural figure, as the butt of myriad jokes. In an episode of “Jeopardy!” on May 24, he was the answer to one of the questions. Host Ken Jennings quipped, “I don’t get to say this very much, but George Santos is correct.”

The prompt asked the player to identify a New York representative who “lied about where he went to college” and “allegedly swindled a disabled vet whose dog was dying.”

June is, of course, Pride Month, celebrating LGB people, represented by the rainbow flag. Santos, a gay man, insulted the celebration on June 3 in a tweet that read, “My pride is in my country and flag, not some false flag created by the Gay inc Mafia!”

He claims to be married, and even told the Herald during his campaign last October that he is a “gay, married man on the adoption line,” although his husband’s name is not known. Last week’s tweet, however, was not the first time Santos has taken a shot at Pride Month.

“I will always stand up to the radical rainbow mafia,” he tweeted on April 26. “I believe in the freedom to live and let live but will never bow to the indoctrination of the Rainbow Mafia. My flag is the American flag.”