A big-money donor to Rep. George Santos Thursday denounced embattled lawmaker for ripping him off — along with many others.
Josh Eisen, a Westchester County businessman and onetime congressional candidate, said he made the maximum allowable donation to Santos to help forge a GOP majority in the House of Representatives.
He was shocked to find out Santos allegedly diverted the cash for his own personal expenses as outlined in an Ethics Committee report.
“He stole $5,800 from me,” said Eisen, 51, who lives in Harrison. “He spent it on Botox and everything else.”
“He’s not a normal dude,” Eisen added.
Santos has long said he has not done anything wrong.
As Santos faces an imminent expulsion vote from Congress, Eisen say he isn’t suing to get his money back. The libertarian-leaning Republican admits knows it’s unlikely he’ll ever see a cent.
“The only way that’ll happen is if Santos gets rich by doing a reality show in prison,” Eisen said.
But he feels it’s important to speak out on behalf of small-dollar donors who wrongly believed in Santos.
“There’s a whole lot of $50 donors who got hurt a lot worse than me,” Eisen said.
Eisen said he was linked up with Santos by other Republican donors in the months leading up to the 2022 midterms.
He’s a prolific donor and hopes to use his money to nudge the GOP towards a more small-government policy perspective on many issues.
Eisen admitted being hoodwinked by Santos’s inspirational life story about being a trailblazing gay conservative and the son of Brazilian immigrants who rose to the heights of the financial services industry.
Those claims were all lies.
“Like most donors, you believe the background that people tell you, ” Eisen said. “Most politicians do not flat-out lie. The dude wasn’t there at all.”
Eisen said he hasn’t spoken to Santos since he became a walking political punchline.
Along with the bogus resume, Santos is now accused of using donations for cringeworthy splurges on cosmetic procedures and luxe goods.
“It’s like going to mental institution and telling someone who is howling to bark like a dog,” he said. “I got nothing to say to him.”
