CNN
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Scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos filed paperwork Tuesday with federal regulators formally declaring his 2024 candidacy.
The formal declaration doesn’t imply that the embattled congressman has to pursue reelection. His motion follows a requirement final month from the Federal Election Fee that he declare his intentions after the Lengthy Island Republican crossed a fundraising threshold that required him to file a press release of candidacy.
Final week, when requested by CNN’s Melanie Zanona whether or not he’d run for workplace once more, Santos answered, “Perhaps,” and acknowledged that a few of his fellow Republicans had urged him to not search reelection. However he mentioned he was centered on his present job in Congress.
Santos, who has lied extensively about his resume, schooling and household background, faces federal and native investigations into his funds and a Home ethics committee probe into whether or not he might have engaged in illegal exercise in his 2022 marketing campaign.
Tuesday was the deadline for Santos to answer federal regulators’ demand. The freshman has confronted repeated questions in regards to the accuracy of his marketing campaign’s filings with the FEC and the identification of his treasurer.
Notably, his assertion of candidacy mentioned that he doesn’t anticipate expending his private funds on a reelection bid.
Among the greatest questions round Santos’ marketing campaign exercise have centered on the monetary windfall that allowed the Republican to report a private mortgage of $705,000 to his profitable 2022 marketing campaign. In Santos’ earlier, failed bid for Congress, in 2020, his private monetary disclosure kind listed no property and a wage of $55,000.
He has mentioned he earned the cash by his agency, The Devolder Group, however he listed no Devolder shoppers on the monetary disclosure he was required to file final yr as a candidate.