Watchdog fears George Santos could end up 'laundering money' thanks to Ted Cruz court case

Questions raised about the campaign finances of Rep. George Santos (R-NY) are a "prime example" of the threat to democracy posed by a Supreme Court ruling in favor of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), according to a non-partisan watchdog.

The decision, handed down in June last year, eliminated a $250,000 cap on loans candidates can recover with money raised after an election, which the court's three liberals condemned.

The ruling could let Santos legally repay himself $705,000 that he claims to have given his campaign in personal loans, reported The Daily Beast.

“The ruling was egregiously bad as far as ‘the appearance of corruption,’ at a minimum,” said Saurav Ghosh, director of federal reform for the Campaign Legal Center. “Before the Cruz decision, there’d be a limit on how much he could pay himself back after the election. But now there’s no limit, so the potential for corruption is enormous.”

The law effectively allows candidates to solicit donations that supporters know will go into the candidate's personal bank account, rather than funding their campaigns.

“Santos can now literally tell donors, ‘I’m in office and need money to pay back loans, what can you do for me?’” Ghosh said. “The clear implication is that donors would see someone who is in Congress who they can give money to, knowing the money will end up in their pocket, so they might be able to get something in return. That’s a major problem for democracy.”

Santos claims to have loaned his campaign money through his company, the Devolder Organization, but the Campaign Legal Center filed a complaint last month with the Federal Election Commission alleging the New York Republican may have engaged in a straw donation scheme to evade federal contribution limits.

“When a candidate loans money to their campaign, it’s supposed to be theirs, or from a lending institution,” Ghosh said. “But we believe that Santos got that money from someone else. So one scenario here is that Santos could possibly enrich himself — basically laundering money through his campaign, and then putting that money back into his own pocket.”

Santos has declined to comment about the loan to multiple news organizations.