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McCarthy: 'We won't touch Medicare or Social Security'

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on Thursday that House Republicans will not target Medicare or Social Security in their negotiations over the debt ceiling.

“We won’t touch Medicare or Social Security,” he told Donald Trump Jr. in an interview in the Speaker’s office for Trump’s “Triggered” podcast.

The remark comes as some House Republicans have been eyeing entitlement programs as a potential target for trimming down federal spending, after vowing to tie an increase in the debt limit to spending cuts. 

Since the U.S. hit its debt ceiling last Thursday, Congress now faces a looming deadline to raise the debt limit and prevent the government from defaulting on its debt. The Treasury Department began employing “extraordinary measures” to prevent such a default, which is expected to give Congress until early June to address the issue.

However, President Biden and congressional Democrats have so far refused to negotiate on the debt ceiling, instead calling for a clean increase and teeing up a potential showdown with Republicans.

As divisions have emerged within the GOP over whether to target entitlement programs, former President Trump warned Republicans last week to look elsewhere for their spending cuts.

“Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security to help pay for Joe Biden’s reckless spending spree,” Trump said in a video statement posted to Truth Social.

“While we absolutely need to stop Biden’s out of control spending, the pain should be borne by Washington bureaucrats, not by hard-working American families and American seniors,” he added. “The seniors are being absolutely destroyed in the last two years.”

Source: TEST FEED1

Lawmakers submit more than 140 amendments as House opens process for first time in seven years

The House opened up its amendment process for the first time in seven years on Thursday, and began debating on the floor more than 140 proposed changes to an oil-related bill.

House Republicans brought the Strategic Production Response Act to the floor on Thursday under what’s known as a modified-open rule.

The bill in seeks to limit the president’s ability to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), and would mandate the federal government to draw up a plan that would boost the percentage of federal lands leased for oil and gas production, should it continue withdrawing resources from the SPR.

Unlike structured or closed rules, which limit the number of amendments considered — as determined by the House Rules Committee for each bill — a modified-open rule allows anyone to submit an amendment as long as they do so the day before a bill is debated.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said it was the first time in seven years the House had used such a process, and more than 140 amendments were submitted for the bill.

A number of the amendments were passed or rejected by voice vote by voice vote on Thursday. On some amendments, however, members requested a roll call vote.

The House is expected to continue debating amendments Thursday night, then vote on the entire bill Friday, a longer process than a structured or closed rule.

Conservative lawmakers had pushed for a more open legislative process in the lead up to — and during — this month’s protracted Speaker’s race in an effort to empower rank-and-file members.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) touted the process during his press conference on Tuesday.

“This week, you’re going to see something that hasn’t happened in Congress in more than seven years: a bill is going to come to the floor under an open rule,” McCarthy told reporters outside his office in the Capitol. “Think about that. The entire time the Democrats were in the majority, those four years and three years in the past, you have not had a bill come to this floor under an open rule.”

“This is what we promised the American public. This is what we promised the members on both sides. There will be more openness, more opportunity for ideas to win at the end of the day, and as we move forward,” he added.

Some Democrats had positive reviews of the modified open rule process, noting that it gives them the opportunity to have their amendments added into legislation.

“If I get some amendments passed then I’m gonna like it a lot,” Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who submitted five amendments, told The Hill on Thursday, adding that she is “absolutely for a transparent process.”

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) had similar thoughts.

“I think it gives the Democrats an opportunity to offer amendments,” Cohen said, noting that it could give the caucus a better chance of seeing their changes made than if the Rules Committee determined amendments.

He both brushed aside any concerns about the process taking longer than usual.

Source: TEST FEED1

Trump's typical social posts could push up against Meta's rules

Former President Trump will need to adjust his social media style if he wants to keep his newly restored Facebook and Instagram accounts. 

A number of the 2024 presidential candidate’s posts on his Truth Social platform would run afoul of Meta, which has stricter content enforcement and set guardrails for his reinstatement.

One opponent of the reinstatement described this situation as a “landmine” for Meta.

Trump was suspended from Twitter and Facebook roughly two years ago in the wake of posts about the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol that officials said incited violence. Since then, Trump has been posting a mix of his own commentary and sharing content from supportive accounts on Truth Social, a social media platform he helped create.

But a quick scan of his Truth Social account shows he often dabbles in the kind of content that got him in trouble on other platforms.

In the last week alone, Trump has called for the arrest of a journalist and publisher who reported a leaked Supreme Court opinion draft, levied racist attacks against Elaine Chao, who is married to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and claimed the 2020 election was stolen. 

Earlier this month, he repeated a debunked conspiracy implicating Georgia election worker Ruby Freeman, who testified before Congress last year that she’s endured harassment because of such claims.

Trump has in the past also shared photos and posts that directly referenced the QAnon conspiracy theory. In September, he reposted an image of himself wearing a “Q” lapel pin and the words “The Storm is Coming,” both direct nods to QAnon.

“If his behavior [on Truth Social] is any indication, he will … be continually walking up to the line of violating platform rules about disseminating falsehoods on certain very important subjects, like the validity of democracy and the nature of a public health threat,” said Paul Barrett, deputy director of the New York University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

“The people in charge of trust and safety at Meta are going to have some very tough choices to make,” Barrett added.

As part of the new Meta guardrails, Trump could get suspended for one month to two years if he violates Facebook’s community standards, Meta’s president of global affairs Nick Clegg said in a Wednesday blog post.

Other content that doesn’t explicitly violate Meta’s community standards, like posts delegitimizing an upcoming election or content related to QAnon, could trigger Facebook to make his posts unshareable or restrict advertising tools, Clegg said. 

The policy won’t just apply to Trump’s account; it is Meta’s new rule for additional penalties when a public figure is allowed to return to Facebook and Instagram after a suspension. 

The case against Trump’s reinstatement

Angela Carusone, president of the left-leaning watchdog group Media Matters for America, said the “fact that [Meta] had to create these guardrails in the first place is the biggest indicator that there’s a problem” with giving Trump access to his accounts. 

“It illustrates to me that they kind of know that they’re walking into a landmine,” he added. 

Media Matters was part of a coalition of advocacy groups and civil society organizations urging Meta to keep the ban on Trump in place. As part of the push, Media Matters highlighted posts on Truth Social that it said showcase why Trump still posed a threat to return to Facebook. 

A Media Matters analysis found nearly half of Trump’s posts on Truth Social in the week after the 2022 midterm election pushed election misinformation or amplified QAnon-promoting accounts. 

Until June, Trump is contractually obligated to post content exclusively on Truth Social first for six hours.

Why Trump may return to Facebook: his campaign

One former Trump White House official told The Hill that while Trump would dictate or type out tweets, he did not have the same hands-on approach to Facebook. As a result, his staff may be able to more successfully moderate his tone on the platform if he rejoins.

It’s unclear when or if he will resume posting on Facebook. Trump told Fox News Digital last week that Facebook “needs us more than we need them,” though it was his team that had reached out about a possible return to the platform.

Facebook is arguably of more value to Trump and his presidential ambitions than Twitter, however. Trump in 2016 redefined how to aggressively use Facebook targeted ads to generate small dollar contributions, and being able to solicit donations on the site again could provide a boon to his 2024 campaign.

Facebook also gives Trump access to a wider user base than on Truth Social. Meta reported 1.9 billion daily active users in its most recent earnings report released in October, while Truth Social had an estimated 8.3 million visitors in November, according to data from SimilarWeb. 

One way Trump may use Facebook, and to avoid getting caught by the new guardrails in place, is to post links to Truth Social posts with the violative content, Carusone said. The most valuable opportunity Facebook offers Trump is through fundraising and advertising. In those cases, it may not matter as much if Trump’s posts are first published on Truth Social. 

But on Twitter, the main draw from Trump’s account before his 2021 ban was the ability to respond to events in real time and shape a media narrative. 

With the Truth Social exclusive deal still in place, Trump has yet to return to Twitter, even after regaining access two months ago. Within a month of closing his deal to buy Twitter, CEO Elon Musk gave Trump and other previously banned users access to their platforms again. 

“The president is still in a compromising position with the public, and he may lay low until closer to election,” said Jennifer Grygiel, an associate professor at Syracuse University with a focus on social media. 

“If he comes back to these platforms it will be strategic, and he will be angling to be reelected,” Grygiel added. 

Source: TEST FEED1

California seeks disbarment of Eastman following Trump memo

The California bar association is seeking disbarment of attorney John Eastman, who crafted memos for the Trump campaign encouraging Vice President Mike Pence to buck his ceremonial duty to certify the 2020 election results.

Eastman crafted two memos for the Trump campaign outlining strategies for reversing then-President Trump’s loss to President Biden, including another encouraging states to certify Trump’s loss as a victory.

The filing notice for disciplinary charges points to false statements regarding voter fraud and his comments at the rally near the White House on Jan. 6 as the basis for the disbarment.

“The 11 charges arise from allegations that Eastman engaged in a course of conduct to plan, promote, and assist then-President Trump in executing a strategy, unsupported by facts or law, to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election by obstructing the count of electoral votes of certain states,” the State Bar of California wrote in a press release announcing the move.

Eastman has since March of last year been under investigation by the State Bar, which is a regulatory agency housed within the California Supreme Court. The charges against him will now be heard in disciplinary proceedings, at which point California’s State Bar Court will determine whether to revoke his law license. 

Eastman’s attorney did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Eastman was subpoenaed by the House Jan. 6 committee early into its investigation and challenged the compulsion for documents and testimony, teeing up a case that would result in a key ruling.

Judge David Carter ruled that Eastman’s work for the Trump campaign could not be protected through attorney-client privilege, determining he more likely than not engaged in criminal activity in seeking to unwind the election, invalidating the protections of the privilege.

The bar association also cites Eastman’s Jan. 6 speech as a factor, noting his comments around fraud shortly before a mob of pro-Trump supporters descended on the Capitol.

“Eastman knew, or should have known, that the factual premise for his proposals―that massive fraud was at play―was false, and that Trump had lost his bid for re-election,” a statement by the association said.

“Eastman ignored these truths when he spoke at the ‘Save America March’ on January 6, 2020, inciting the crowd to take action when, with the intent to convince them that the outcome of the presidential election had been affected by fraud, he said that ‘dead people had voted’ in the presidential election, that Dominion voting machines had fraudulently manipulated the election results, and that Vice President Pence did not deserve to be in office if he did not delay the counting of electoral votes. These statements contributed to provoking the crowd that participated in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol that occurred after the rally,” the association concluded.

Eastman is one of several lawyers associated with the Trump campaign to face repercussions for their false statements relating to voter fraud.

Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has already had his law license temporarily suspended in New York, while the bar association disciplinary panel in D.C. has likewise forwarded a finding that could result in the loss of his law license in the nation’s capital.

Those matters cited Giuliani submitting lawsuits based on faulty claims of election fraud.

And Texas authorities are also still mulling whether to disbar Sidney Powell, another attorney who aided in Trump’s efforts after he lost the 2020 election.

Eastman, a former professor at Chapman University, has previously defended his actions.

“Every statement I have made is backed up with documentary and/or expert evidence, and solidly grounded in law,” he wrote in a statement in January of last year announcing his retirement amid pushback from university colleagues.

“I participated in a peaceful rally of nearly [half a] million people, two miles away from the violence that occurred at the capital [sic] and which began even before the speeches were finished.

—Updated at 5 p.m.

Source: TEST FEED1

Biden: I won't let GOP use debt ceiling as 'bargaining chip'

President Biden on Thursday called the prospect of the federal government defaulting on its debt “mind-boggling” but pushed back against Republican lawmakers seeking to leverage negotiations over raising the debt ceiling in exchange for spending cuts.

“If Republicans want to work together on real solutions and continue to grow manufacturing jobs, build the strongest economy in the world and make sure Americans are paid a fair wage, I’m ready,” Biden said in remarks on the economy in Springfield, Va. “But I will not let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip.”

Biden’s comments come as the White House has staked out the position that it will not negotiate with Republicans over the debt limit. Officials believe the debt ceiling should be raised as part of a clean vote, without other conditions attached.

Some Republicans have argued the government should agree to cuts or reforms to major programs in order to limit future spending as part of any agreement to raise the debt ceiling. Even some moderate Republicans have suggested Biden will have to come to the negotiating table to hammer out an agreement.

“The very notion that we would default on the safest, most respected debt in the world is mind-boggling,” Biden said. “I’m not going to get into the reckless threats that take the economy hostage in order to force an agenda that’s going to only limit American workers and weaken us internationally. I won’t let that happen.”

Biden placed much of the blame for the current state of the debt on his predecessor, noting that roughly 25 percent of the current national debt was accumulated during the Trump administration. The Biden administration has argued its spending bills are paid for and will ultimately cut the debt by nearly $2 trillion. But that amount is a drop in the bucket compared to the total debt, which is nearly $31 trillion.

Congress must act to raise the debt limit in the coming months, or the U.S. will default. The debt limit allows the government to pay money it has already approved, not cover new spending. 

White House officials and economists have warned that failing to raise the debt limit could result in economic catastrophe, including job losses, a stock market decline and the loss of government services for veterans, seniors and other Americans.

Biden’s remarks on Thursday came as part of a broader speech on the economy, where he touted the accomplishments of his first two years in office while lambasting House Republicans for some of the proposals they’ve put forward since regaining the majority this month.

He mocked the GOP for a bill proposal that would establish a 30 percent national sales tax, noting that Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has said he opposes the idea.

“The Republican Speaker says he’s not so sure he’s for it,” Biden said.

Administration officials have also criticized a House GOP bill that would restrict releases from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), arguing it would limit the federal government’s contingency options in times of crisis and potentially drive up oil prices.

Biden’s economic speech on Thursday served as something of a preview of the months to come as he hits the road to pitch voters on his agenda and accomplishments of the past two years in preparation for a likely 2024 campaign announcement.

The president touted the benefits of the bipartisan infrastructure law and a bipartisan bill to boost investments in semiconductor chip manufacturing, both of which he said would create good-paying jobs and revitalize communities.

He also highlighted passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which passed with only Democratic votes and funds key White House priorities like cutting health care costs and increasing investments in green technology that will combat climate change.

Biden said Thursday he is tapping several top administration officials to lead an “Invest in America” Cabinet that will ensure those bills and other parts of his economic agenda are used to maximize job creation. Members including the secretaries of Transportation, Labor, Commerce and Energy, as well as senior White House advisers like Mitch Landrieu, who oversaw implementation of the infrastructure bill.

Source: TEST FEED1

Memphis braces for release of video footage in Tyre Nichols beating

The city of Memphis, Tenn., is bracing for potential civil unrest with the release of video footage of the beating of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died after a traffic stop earlier this month.

On Thursday, five former Memphis Police officers involved in the incident were charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. All five men, who are all Black, were fired from the department. Video footage is expected to be released publicly Friday.

Nichols was pulled over for reckless driving on Jan. 7, and he died three days later from wounds sustained during what the department initially called a “confrontation” with five officers on the scene. It later was revealed that Nichols was beaten for three minutes by police officers.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy confirmed video footage includes police body camera footage and possibly cellphone video and home video surveillance. 

Audio of the dispatch recording was released on CNN on Thursday. 

“We got one male. He’s running,” says one officer. Another says to run the license plates to find out the address of the owner. 

Sounds of distress can be heard before the dispatcher says, “He’s fighting at this time.”

Concern over what could happen once the footage is released is, in part, in response to the civil unrest the country saw in 2020 after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis Police officers. While much of that unrest was peaceful protest, there was also widespread looting, burning of buildings and rioting.

“Burning down your own community will not solve this problem,” Van Turner, Memphis NAACP president, cautioned the community this week. “What will solve this problem is supporting this family, supporting the effort to bring these individuals to justice and supporting the effort to better train our officers and better train them to interact with this community appropriately going forward.”

In a video released Thursday, Memphis police Chief Cerelyn Davis called the beating “heinous, reckless and inhumane.” While she said she expects citizens to protest and demand action for results, she warned against any violence and community destruction.

“I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand action and results,” Davis said. “But we need to ensure our community is safe in this process. None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens.”

Civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family of Nichols, said preliminary findings in their independent autopsy indicate Nichols “suffered extensive bleeding caused by a severe beating.”

So far, it is unclear how a traffic stop escalated into violence that left Nichols feeling short of breath and eventually dead, but video footage could help determine why officers reacted violently. 

Attorney Antonio Romanucci, who is also representing the family, said the video shows Nichols being pepper-sprayed, shocked with a stun gun and restrained.

“He was a piñata to those police officers,” said Romanucci. “It was an unadulterated, unabashed nonstop beating of this young boy for three minutes.”

Family members have already seen the video. Nichols’s stepfather, Rodney Wells, called the footage “horrific,” while his mother, RowVaughn Wells, was unable to watch the full video. Crump likened the footage to that of Rodney King, a Black man brutally beaten by Los Angeles police officers during a traffic stop in 1991 video.

Ahead of Friday’s video release, the NAACP has issued a call to action to Congress.

“By failing to write a piece of legislation, you’re writing another obituary,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement Thursday. “Tell us what you’re going to do to honor Tyre Nichols. Tell us what you’re going to do to show his family, his loving son, and this entire nation, that his life was not lost in vain. We can name all the victims of police violence, but we can’t name a single law you have passed to address it.”

Source: TEST FEED1

DeSantis gets into RNC race, backing Dhillon

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is backing California attorney and former Trump campaign adviser Harmeet Dhillon in her bid to take the Republican National Committee chairmanship away from Ronna McDaniel, saying in an interview on Thursday, “I think we need a change.”

“I think we need to get some new blood in the RNC,” DeSantis told Charlie Kirk, the founder of conservative Turning Point USA, on Florida’s Voice. 

“I like what Harmeet Dhillon has said about getting the RNC out of D.C. Why would you want to have your headquarters in the most Democrat city in America? It’s more Democrat than San Francisco is,” he continued, referencing a letter that Dhillon sent to RNC members about looking into regional offices while keeping their headquarters in Washington.

The Florida governor, who is considering a 2024 presidential bid, lamented the performance of Republicans in the last three election cycles as reason for changing leadership at the RNC.

“We’ve had three substandard election cycles in a row: ‘18, ‘20 and ‘22. And I would say of all three of those, ‘22 was probably the worst. Given the political environment of a very unpopular president in Biden, huge majorities of the people think the country is going in the wrong direction — that is an environment that’s tailor-made to make big gains in the House and the Senate and in state houses all across the country. And yet that didn’t happen,” DeSantis told Kirk.

DeSantis’s comments come just one day before the RNC committee members will hold a secret ballot vote for several positions, including their chairperson. The RNC is wrapping up candidate forums on Thursday ahead of those votes. 

In addition to McDaniel and Dhillon, the staunchly pro-Trump MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell is running to lead the party.

Some Republicans have called for McDaniel to step down, as the party was unable to win the House in 2018, lost the Senate and presidency in 2020 and was unable to flip the Senate last November.

McDaniel, however, has endorsements from dozens of state party chairs and RNC members. She needs the votes from a majority of the 168 RNC members to keep the position.

Source: TEST FEED1

5 Memphis cops charged with murder in Tyre Nichols' death

MEMPHIS, Tenn.. (AP) — Five fired Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with second-degree murder and other crimes in the arrest and death of Tyre Nichols, a Black motorist who died three days after a confrontation with the officers during a traffic stop.

Shelby County Sheriff’s Office online records show that Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Desmond Mills, Jr., Emmitt Martin III and Justin Smith, who are all Black, were in custody. All five are charged with second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression.

Court records don’t list attorneys for Smith, Bean or Haley. Martin’s lawyer, William Massey, confirmed that his client had turned himself in. He and Mills’ lawyer, Blake Ballin, said they planned to discuss the charges at a news conference later Thursday.

Second-degree murder is punishable by 15 to 60 years in prison under Tennessee law.

Nichols’ stepfather, Rodney Wells, told The Associated Press by phone that he and his wife RowVaughn Wells, who is Nichols’ mother, discussed the second-degree murder charges and are “fine with it.” They had pushed for first-degree murder charges.

“There’s other charges, so I’m all right with that,” he said.

He said he was “ecstatic” that authorities have moved quickly in the case.

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he would provide an update on the state’s investigation Thursday afternoon.

Nichols’ family and their attorneys have seen police video of the arrest, but the video hasn’t been released to the public, though authorities said they’d release it this week or next.

The Memphis police chief has called the actions of five officers involved in the violent arrest of Nichols “heinous, reckless and inhumane” and urged residents of the predominantly Black city to protest peacefully when video is released.

““This is not just a professional failing. This is a failing of basic humanity toward another individual,” Memphis Police Director Cerelyn “CJ” Davis said in a video statement released late Wednesday on social media.

Davis said the five officers found to be “directly responsible for the physical abuse of Mr. Nichols,” were fired last week, but other officers are still being investigated for violating department policy. In addition, she said “a complete and independent review” will be conducted of the department’s specialized units, without providing further details.

As state and federal investigations continue, Davis promised the police department’s “full and complete cooperation” to determine what contributed to Nichols’ death Jan. 10 death.

Mulroy told The Associated Press on Tuesday that local and state investigators want to complete as many interviews as possible before releasing the video. The timetable has rankled some activists who expected the video to be released after Nichols’ family and the family’s lawyers viewed it Monday.

One of the family’s attorneys, Ben Crump, said the video showed showed Nichols — a 29-year-old FedEx worker and father — was shocked, pepper-sprayed and restrained when he was pulled over for a traffic stop near his home. He was returning home from a suburban park where he had taken photos of the sunset. The legal team said officers beat Nichols for three minutes in a “savage” encounter reminiscent of the infamous 1991 police beating of Los Angeles motorist Rodney King.

Relatives have accused the police of causing Nichols to have a heart attack and kidney failure. Authorities have only said Nichols experienced a medical emergency.

When video of the arrest is publicly released, Davis said she expects the community to react.

“I expect our citizens to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, to demand actions and results, but we need to ensure our community is safe in this process,” she said. “None of this is a calling card for inciting violence or destruction on our community or against our citizens.”

Davis said the fired officers’ actions aren’t a reflection of the good work that many Memphis police officers do every day and she pledged to take action to make improvements at the agency.

“It is my intent, as a proactive measure, to ensure that a complete and independent review is conducted on all of the Memphis Police Department’s specialized units and the commitment of my executive leadership to ensure that policies and procedures are adhered to in our daily encounters with the citizens we are sworn to serve,” she said.

Two fire department workers were also removed from duty over the Nichols’ arrest.

____

Reynolds reported from Lexington, Kentucky.

Source: TEST FEED1

Santos loans deepen questions around campaign finances

A set of updated campaign finance reports are deepening the mystery surrounding the source of high-dollar loans that Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) made to his campaign last year. 

Santos’s campaign previously reported that a pair of six-figure loans from the candidate — one for $500,000 that was made last March and another for $125,000 in October — came from his personal funds. 

But in an amended filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Tuesday, Santos’s campaign unchecked a box indicating that the $500,000 loan came from personal funds. Similarly, a separate updated report left the same box unchecked for the $125,000 loan. The changes were first reported by The Daily Beast.

Further complicating the matter is the fact that filings from later in 2022 still mark the $500,000 loan as coming from personal funds, leaving the source of the money unclear. Campaign finance experts are struggling to unpack the latest disclosures from Santos’s campaign, which they say are riddled with potential errors and discrepancies.

“Nobody can make sense of them,” said Robert Maguire, the research director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonprofit watchdog group. “It seems impossible at this point that there is some sort of oversight.”

“It’s just an astounding number of financial questions,” he added. “I’ve been doing that for more than a decade and I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Brett Kappel, an elections lawyer specializing in campaign finance, said that it’s unclear whether the apparent discrepancies on Santos’ updated filings were the result of a simple clerical error or an intentional change. 

Regardless, Kappel said, “the amendments make no sense and are inconsistent,” adding the changes would almost certainly attract scrutiny from the FEC.

“It might be a mistake that was made when amending other parts of the same report or it could be deliberate if his treasurer refused to mark it as personal unless he provided documentation,” he said. “Either way it is going to generate another FEC letter asking him to describe the true source of the loan and its particulars.”

Federal election law allows candidates to loan personal funds for campaign purposes or take out bank loans to help fund their political operations. But experts said that any bank loan the size of those made by Santos would require collateral, and Santos’s filings with the FEC note that the loans were not backed by collateral.

Santos’s attorney Joe Murray did not respond to The Hill’s request for comment on the amended campaign finance reports. Santos himself declined to elaborate on the changes on Wednesday, telling reporters outside the U.S. Capitol that he doesn’t manage his campaign’s financial disclosures.

“I don’t amend anything,” Santos told reporters on Wednesday. “I don’t touch any of my FEC stuff. So don’t be disingenuous and report that I did, because you know that every campaign hires fiduciaries. So I’m not aware of that answer.”

To be sure, it’s not unusual for campaigns to file updated reports with the FEC in order to correct errors or provide additional required information. But Erin Khlopak, the senior director for campaign finance at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center (CLC), said that Santos’s filings aren’t typical.

“The FEC has already issued a large number of requests for additional information where they flagged their own concerns,” Khlopak said. “I think that this particular committee has raised an unusual number of questions.” 

CLC filed a complaint with the FEC earlier this month accusing Santos’s campaign of illegally using funds for personal expenses and concealing the source of Santos’s loans to the campaign, among other concerns. Khlopak said that CLC was still in the process of sorting through Santos’s latest filings.

Khlopak warned against jumping to conclusions about the latest discrepancies regarding Santos’s campaign loans. But, she added, “it’s certainly significant whether it was a clerical mistake or intentional, and it’s something that should be examined.” 

“If it’s personal, then there’s the question of did he actually have the money to loan? And if not, where did the money come from?” she said. “There are a lot of questions about where it came from, the term of the loan, etc. There are requirements about providing details about what they are.”

The updated disclosures mark the latest turn in the winding saga of Santos, who has faced growing scrutiny over everything from his financial dealings to lying about his resumé and personal life.

In previous filings with the FEC, Santos’s campaign reported that he had personally loaned his campaign more than $700,000, but questions remain over where that money came from. Santos has said that the money came from his work at his company, the DeVolder Organization. 

Santos is also facing scrutiny over whether an outside entity had solicited large donations for his campaign without being registered with the FEC. 

There are also questions about a series of expenses for $199.99 made by Santos’s campaign. That specific amount puts the expenses just one cent under the $200 threshold that would require the campaign to keep receipts or invoices.

On Wednesday, Santos’s campaign and a handful of affiliated groups filed updates with the FEC naming Thomas Datwyler, a longtime GOP operative, as their new treasurer, replacing previous treasurer Nancy Marks. 

The transition hit a roadblock, however, when Datwyler’s attorney Derek Ross said that his client had informed Santos’s campaign earlier this week that he would not be serving as treasurer. Federal law requires every political committee to have a treasurer in order to spend or take in money.

“On Monday we informed the Santos campaign that Mr. Datwyler would not be serving as treasurer,” Ross said. “It appears there’s a disconnect between that conversation and the filings today, which we did not authorize.”

Source: TEST FEED1