George Santos isn’t the only member of his circle accused of fabricating their backstory.
Samuel Miele, a paid fundraiser for the lying Long Island Republican, was indicted by federal prosecutors Tuesday for allegedly impersonating a former top aide to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).
Miele allegedly fielded calls and emails to potential donors pretending to be Dan Meyer, McCarthy’s onetime chief of staff, who retired in June.
He was slapped with four counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft in an indictment unsealed Wednesday in the Eastern District of New York.
Miele’s indictment comes nearly three months after scandal-plagued Santos was indicted in the same court for alleged false statements, money laundering, fraud and theft.
Prosecutors informed the court that the separate Santos and Miele cases “may be presumptively related because the facts of each case arise out of overlapping events.”
They also suggested that it “may be appropriate” to have one judge overseeing both cases as a result.
George Santos isn’t the only one in his orbit accused of biographical fabrication. AP
George Santos’ tenure in Congress has been dogged by allegations of past lies about his backstory. James Messerschmidt for NY PostSantos and Meyer were not named in the indictment, but details in the court documents correspond to the identities of both men.
Back in February, Miele was hit with a Federal Elections Commission complaint laying out the allegations against him.
He is believed to have accrued almost $100,000 from the Santos campaign for his work, including $50,000 during Santos’ unsuccessful 2020 House run and $42,000 for the successful 2022 campaign.
For his efforts, Miele allegedly received a 15% commission on each donation he solicited.
In September of the latter year, prosecutors say, Miele copped to Santos in a letter that he was “faking my identity to a big donor,” but justified it by saying he was “high risk, high reward in everything I do.”
George Santos has been unbothered by his indictment and is seeking re-election. APMiele was arraigned on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to CNBC, which first reported on the indictment. He was released on $150,000 bond.
“Mr. Miele is not guilty of these charges,” his lawyer, Kevin Marino, told The Post. “He looks forward to complete vindication at trial as soon as possible.”
Shortly after Santos narrowly won election last year, he quickly became engulfed in controversy by admitting that he embellished large swaths of his backstory — including his education, work experience and family history.
“This wasn’t about tricking people. This was about getting accepted by the party here locally,” Santos told Piers Morgan in February. “This stems more deeper into the political apparatus and the political culture of New York state. And that would take a lot more time than this program to go over to explain.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy declined to call on George Santos to resign, but isn’t backing his re-election bid. Ron Sachs – CNPSantos is vying for re-election in the 2024 cycle, but has drawn stiff primary competition while ignoring calls to resign.
“No, I am not,” McCarthy told Fox News back in June when asked if he was backing Santos. “He shouldn’t run for re-election.”






