- George Santos made major revisions to his campaign finances on Tuesday, according to The Daily Beast.
- Redacted documents show that a $500,000 "personal" loan for his 2022 campaign was not personally financed.
- Experts say the tampered files add to the mystery of Santos' dubious balance sheets.
Rep. Jorge Santos' political process made significant changes to his 2022 campaign documents on Tuesday, The Daily Beast reported, revealing that a $500,000 "personal" loan he made to his campaign in March did not come from his own money not.
The initial deposit showed that the "candidate's personal funds" box was checked when the campaign Mega Loan was entered, while the amended deposit left the box blank.
The revised deposit does not indicate the source of the funds, or if there are guarantees for the loan, much of the entry is left blank.
Another filing filed Tuesday revealed that none of the $125,000 loan the candidate made to the Santos campaign in October came from his personal funds.
Ever since Santos was criticized in the media for lying about key elements of his life, there have been questions about the six-figure sum he said he lent to his campaign.
He donated $705,000 of his own money to his last successful 2022 campaign, far more than the $55,000 he reportedly received when he ran for Congress in 2020.
Brendan Fisher, deputy executive director for government oversight and campaign finance expert, told The Beast the amended documents do little to resolve unanswered questions about funding.
"If the candidate's loan did not come from the candidate, Santos should have explained where the money actually came from," Fisher told The Beast.
"Santos cannot untick the box and get rid of his legal problems," he added.
Campaign finance experts told The New York Times that the redacted documents only add to the opacity of Santos' financial information.
"I've never been more confused about reviewing an FEC filing," Jordan Liebowitz, a spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the Times in an interview.
Brett J. Capel, an election finance and ethics attorney, told the Times that the tampered files raise the possibility of lawlessness.
"If the candidate's personal wealth was not the source of the loan, what was?" He said "The only other source is the bank, and they will require collateral for a loan of this size. If the bank is not the source of the funds, the only alternatives are illegal sources."
In a WBAC radio interview last month, Santos insisted the campaign contributions were legal.
He said he paid the money himself through his company, the Devolder organisation, and told Semaphore he did "specialist advice" for "highly advantaged individuals".
Appearing on the conservative "Bannon's War Room" podcast earlier this month, Santos avoided describing the source of the loans, telling Rep. Matt Gaetz said: "I will tell you where they do not come from. Are they from China or China. Ukraine or Burisma ".
The Daily Beast's report led Democratic Representatives Richie Torres and Ted Liu to call for Santos' resignation or impeachment, with the latter accusing the Republican representative of a crime.
Earlier this month, Rep. James Comer, the new chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, said Santos would be expelled from Congress if he was found to have violated campaign finance laws.
Santos' finances and schemes are now being investigated by federal prosecutors in New York state and Brazil.
Santos did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.