Newly minted Congressman George Santos is in another scandal and was just sworn in. This time, George took what appeared to be an illegal donation. The donation from Rocco Oppedisano, who was expelled from the U.S. in January 2019, looks pretty fishy since he's an Italian national and confessed smuggler of undocumented immigrants. Santos, an immigration hard-liner, reportedly accepted support from an Italian caught piloting a yacht full of Chinese migrants. It's just one thing after another with this guy.
Via The Daily Beast:
The gift from Rocco Oppedisano—expelled from the U.S. in January 2019, and who was subsequently intercepted piloting a yacht packed with unauthorized migrants and $200,000 in cash toward Florida—was just one facet of the support the freshman Republican and immigration hardliner received from the Queens-based clan that controls upscale eatery Il Bacco. Santos has been unabashed about his affection for the restaurant and his affinity for its owners, Rocco Oppedisano's brother Joseph and niece Tina.
As a truth-challenged candidate, Santos appointed the father-daughter pair, plus her fiancé, to his "Small Businesses for Santos Coalition," and made Tina its chair. The campaign, already known for its suspect money maneuvers, also spent $25,443.64 at Il Bacco since the Republican launched his first run for his Long Island-Queens seat in 2020, according to federal campaign finance records. The campaign further reported owing Il Bacco $18,773.54 for its election night party in November.
Especially striking to legal experts is that more than half a dozen of those expenses, marked "Food and Beverage" in the filing, came in at exactly $199.99—one penny short of the threshold that would have required the campaign to retain receipts of the transaction.
The hits keep coming with this guy:
But even more disturbing to him was the Sept. 22, 2022, gift from Rocco Oppedisano, who court and property records show was stripped of his permanent resident status following a firearms and drug bust at homes belonging to Joseph Oppedisano in 2009.
Nassau County GOP officials called for Santos to resign immediately over his "campaign of deceit, lies, and fabrication."
This guy's entire life is a major fuck-up. You can check out The Daily Beast's piece here. They did a deep dive into the smuggler's legal issues.
