Newly elected Republican congressman George Santos is facing fresh scrutiny over his ties to a donor linked to a sanctioned Russian oligarch. Andrew Intrater, an American citizen and cousin of Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, donated the maximum $5,800 to Santos's campaign and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Santos's former employer, Harbor City Capital, which federal regulators have accused of running a Ponzi scheme.
Santos boasted about Intrater's investment firm, Columbus Nova, as a client during a 2020 Zoom meeting, according to footage reviewed by The Washington Post. Intrater's company previously paid Michael Cohen, former attorney to Donald Trump, to identify business deals, and Intrater donated $250,000 to Trump's inaugural committee.
Vekselberg was sanctioned by the US government after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and his assets were frozen. Santos has refused to resign despite calls from his own party leadership and investigations by federal and state authorities over campaign finance violations and a litany of false claims about his background.
Democratic representatives Daniel Goldman and Ritchie Torres have asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate Santos for failing to file accurate financial disclosure reports. The Campaign Legal Center and End Citizens United have also filed complaints with the Federal Election Commission and the Department of Justice.
