A prospective congressional aide has accused Representative George Santos of ethics violations and sexual harassment, according to a letter the man sent to the House Committee on Ethics and posted to Twitter on Friday.
The man, Derek Myers, briefly worked in Mr. Santos’s office before his job offer was rescinded earlier this week, according to the letter.
Mr. Myers said in the letter that he was alone with Mr. Santos in his office on Jan. 25 when the congressman asked him whether he had a profile on Grindr, a popular gay dating app. Then, he said, Mr. Santos invited him to karaoke and touched his groin, assuring him that his husband was out of town.
Mr. Myers’s account could not be corroborated, but a spokeswoman for Representative Susan Wild, ranking member of the House Ethics Committee, acknowledged that his letter had been received by her office.
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Mr. Myers said in an interview that he also filed a report with the Capitol Police, speaking to an officer over the phone. On Twitter, he said that he was making his complaint public for the sake of transparency.
A day before making his complaint public, Mr. Myers received attention following the release of recordings he had secretly made of Mr. Santos and his chief of staff, Charley Lovett.
Mr. Myers was charged last year with wiretapping in Ohio, after a small newspaper he ran published audio of courtroom testimony that someone else recorded and sent to him. Journalism organizations rallied around him, calling for the charges to be dropped in the name of press freedom.
Mr. Santos told the news start-up Semafor on Thursday that his office had been in the process of hiring Mr. Myers, but had decided against it because of concerns over the wiretapping charges. Mr. Lovett confirmed the same to Talking Points Memo.
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Mr. Santos, a Republican representing New York’s Third Congressional District, is the subject of numerous investigations into his business and campaign finances. Mr. Santos’s communications director did not respond to requests for a response, directing the matter to his personal lawyer. His lawyer declined to comment on Mr. Myers’s allegations.
Mr. Myers claimed that the alleged harassment occurred five days before he secretly recorded Mr. Santos. In that conversation, audio of which was published by Talking Points Memo, Mr. Myers declared his fealty to Mr. Santos, telling him, “We’re all George, this is how we got here. We’re just masters of the game.”
At another point, Mr. Myers says on the recording, “I will never lie to you guys. I have no reason to. But I will lie for you.”
“You shouldn’t,” Mr. Santos replies.
In his letter to the Ethics Committee, Mr. Myers said that he was told he would work in Mr. Santos’s office as a volunteer before his employment paperwork was processed.
He said in the letter that he now believed that such an arrangement violated the House’s ethics rules, and he asked the committee to investigate Mr. Santos for his use of volunteer labor as well as for sexual harassment.
It is unclear how the Ethics Committee will proceed. Tom Rust, the committee’s chief counsel and staff director, declined to comment, and the spokeswoman for Ms. Wild said that the congresswoman would not “make comments regarding potential or pending matters before the committee.”
The Capitol Police did not respond to messages requesting confirmation that Mr. Myers had filed a report.
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The man, Derek Myers, briefly worked in Mr. Santos’s office before his job offer was rescinded earlier this week, according to the letter.
Mr. Myers said in the letter that he was alone with Mr. Santos in his office on Jan. 25 when the congressman asked him whether he had a profile on Grindr, a popular gay dating app. Then, he said, Mr. Santos invited him to karaoke and touched his groin, assuring him that his husband was out of town.
Mr. Myers’s account could not be corroborated, but a spokeswoman for Representative Susan Wild, ranking member of the House Ethics Committee, acknowledged that his letter had been received by her office.
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Mr. Myers said in an interview that he also filed a report with the Capitol Police, speaking to an officer over the phone. On Twitter, he said that he was making his complaint public for the sake of transparency.
More on George Santos
- House Committees: Representative George Santos said that he would temporarily recuse himself from sitting on congressional committees as he faces multiple investigations over his lies.
- Santos’s Treasurer Resigns: The resignation of Nancy Marks, which was shrouded in confusion and mystery, could exacerbate the congressman’s financial troubles.
- Inside His District Office: The congressman has opened a local office in Queens, but so far it has largely attracted gawkers and news media rather than constituents.
- Clothes Make the Con Man: To look the part he conceived for himself, Mr. Santos went deep into the costume department of the popular culture hive mind and built his cover story garment by garment.
A day before making his complaint public, Mr. Myers received attention following the release of recordings he had secretly made of Mr. Santos and his chief of staff, Charley Lovett.
Mr. Myers was charged last year with wiretapping in Ohio, after a small newspaper he ran published audio of courtroom testimony that someone else recorded and sent to him. Journalism organizations rallied around him, calling for the charges to be dropped in the name of press freedom.
Mr. Santos told the news start-up Semafor on Thursday that his office had been in the process of hiring Mr. Myers, but had decided against it because of concerns over the wiretapping charges. Mr. Lovett confirmed the same to Talking Points Memo.
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Mr. Santos, a Republican representing New York’s Third Congressional District, is the subject of numerous investigations into his business and campaign finances. Mr. Santos’s communications director did not respond to requests for a response, directing the matter to his personal lawyer. His lawyer declined to comment on Mr. Myers’s allegations.
Mr. Myers claimed that the alleged harassment occurred five days before he secretly recorded Mr. Santos. In that conversation, audio of which was published by Talking Points Memo, Mr. Myers declared his fealty to Mr. Santos, telling him, “We’re all George, this is how we got here. We’re just masters of the game.”
At another point, Mr. Myers says on the recording, “I will never lie to you guys. I have no reason to. But I will lie for you.”
“You shouldn’t,” Mr. Santos replies.
In his letter to the Ethics Committee, Mr. Myers said that he was told he would work in Mr. Santos’s office as a volunteer before his employment paperwork was processed.
He said in the letter that he now believed that such an arrangement violated the House’s ethics rules, and he asked the committee to investigate Mr. Santos for his use of volunteer labor as well as for sexual harassment.
It is unclear how the Ethics Committee will proceed. Tom Rust, the committee’s chief counsel and staff director, declined to comment, and the spokeswoman for Ms. Wild said that the congresswoman would not “make comments regarding potential or pending matters before the committee.”
The Capitol Police did not respond to messages requesting confirmation that Mr. Myers had filed a report.
George Santos Is Accused of Sexual Harassment in His Capitol Office
The complaint was made by a man seeking work as a House aide, whose bid for a job was rejected because he faced criminal wiretapping charges in Ohio.
