|
“The dark cloud of their 23-count-indicted colleague is casting a shadow over the rest of the New York GOP.”
A new report in New York Playbook exposed vulnerable New York Republicans for being ensnared in serial liar George Santos’ shady financial schemes.
Nick LaLota and Anthony D’Esposito both use Santos’ accountant Thomas Datwyler, who allegedly tried to cover up his role handling Santos’ finances, as their own campaign treasurer. Datwyler also serves as the treasurer for the Joint Fundraising Committee between LaLota, D’Esposito, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, and Brandon Williams.
The group of New York Republican freshmen have desperately tried to distance themselves from their criminally-indicted colleague – including trying to save face by mounting a last minute effort to expel Santos even though they voted to protect him months ago.
DCCC Spokesperson Ellie Dougherty:
“It’s the pot calling the kettle black when it comes to Nick LaLota, Anthony D’Esposito, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, and Brandon Williams trying to distance themselves from George Santos’ shady financial schemes.”
New York Playbook: Santos’ shadow looms over fellow freshmen
Jeff Coltin | November 1, 2023
Even as Rep. George Santos’ fellow New York GOP freshmen push to expel him tonight (in a likely doomed vote), tentacles of the Santos scandals are grabbing at the other representatives’ legs.
Remember the accountant who said Santos wrongly listed him as treasurer back in January? The Daily Beast reported last week that he actually did the work for Santos’ campaign for four months but hid that potentially embarrassing fact by listing the name of his buddy from high school on official paperwork.
And the lawyer for campaign treasurer Thomas Datwyler just rescinded his January statements that claimed Datwyler had been played by Santos, the Daily Beast reported, saying that actually, it looks like Datwyler had played the Federal Election Commission. And the public.
Datwyler isn’t some fringe character desperate for a paycheck.
He’s also the campaign treasurer for Reps. Anthony D’Esposito and Nick LaLota, two Long Island Republican first-year members who’ve been eager to distance themselves from Santos.
Datwyler is the treasurer for New York Majority Makers too, a joint fundraising committee for all the non-Santos swing seat freshmen: Reps. D’Esposito, LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams, Playbook has learned.
LaLota’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment, and neither did Datwyler. D’Esposito campaign spokesperson Matthew Capp declined to comment on their treasurer’s alleged pattern of lying to the FEC.
Capp confirmed that the campaign has not severed its relationship with Datwyler after the Daily Beast’s reporting, however.
[…]
D’Esposito, LaLota and the rest of them sharing an ex-campaign treasurer with Santos hasn’t been previously reported. But it’s just another example of the reason why D’Esposito introduced the privileged resolution to expel Santos: The dark cloud of their 23-count-indicted colleague is casting a shadow over the rest of the New York GOP.
|
