Embattled freshman Rep. George Santos (R-New York) was accused last week of pocketing money raised in a 2016 GoFundMe campaign to save a veteran’s dying dog.
Advised by a veterinary tech, Rich Osthoff, a disabled and homeless Navy veteran of New Jersey, reached out to Santos. Back then, Santos went by the name Anthony Devolder and claimed to run a charity called Friends of Pets United.
Osthoff, who was living in a tent on the side of Route 9 in Howell, urgently needed funds for surgery to remove a life-threatening cyst from his beloved service dog, Sapphire. Santos (Devolder) launched the campaign with a $3,000 goal and a heavy dose of sympathy for its targeted recipient:
“When a veteran reaches out for help, how can you say no . . . ,” Santos wrote on the fundraising platform.
Within two months the goal was achieved. However, when Osthoff approached Santos for the money, the self-described animal advocate balked. Santos reportedly told Osthoff that Sapphire would need to receive all services through Santos’ veterinarian. A volley of text messages flared between the two with Santos ultimately writing that his veterinarian could not perform the surgery because the cyst was “very invasive.”
“I started to realize it was getting very difficult to deal with this guy," Osthoff told CBS News. A recent search of registered 501(c)(3) charities showed that Friends of Pets United never existed.
Osthoff enlisted the help of veterans’ advocate, Michael Boll, to help unlock the money Santos promised him. Boll and Osthoff reportedly contacted local authorities, but were told they lacked sufficient evidence to press charges.
Unable to afford Sapphire’s operation, Osthoff watched as his beloved animal’s health declined. Her death imminent, Osthoff was desperate: “I had to panhandle for the money, beg and plead just to have her euthanatized.”
Six years later, Osthoff was stunned to see his nemesis running to represent New York State’s 3rd Congressional District.
“I was so livid that I realized that this guy is now a serving congressman. He doesn’t deserve that job. It’s horrendous that he could lie and steal and cheat his way through life,” Osthoff told NBC News.
Santos has come under attack for a resume laced with lies about his education and work experience. He never attended Baruch College where he boasted a 3.96 GPA and said he played championship volleyball. He never worked at Goldman Sachs or Citicorp, but allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme at Harbor City financial group according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. False claims in Santos’ biography include a Jewish heritage, his grandparents fleeing Nazi persecution, having “lost four employees” at the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando and his mother dying in the Twin Towers’ collapse on 9/11 (she was in Brazil at the time).
Many are calling for Santos’ resignation on the grounds that he was elected under false pretenses and is unfit to govern. Last week, Leaders of the Nassau County Republican Party said Santos should step down.
“He deceived voters,” chairman Joseph G. Cairo said at a press conference last week.“His lies were not mere fibs. He disgraced the House of Representatives. … He’s not welcome here at Republican headquarters.”
In a recent interview, Santos admitted to embellishing his resume, but fervently denied multiple allegations of fraud against him in the U.S. and abroad.