Former George Santos campaign fundraiser charged with wire fraud and identity theft

The individual responsible for raising campaign funds for Rep. George Santos is now also embroiled in a scandal for allegedly committing wire fraud and identity theft.

Samuel Miele, who worked for Santos during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles, is facing several charges, one of them for allegedly impersonating the former chief of staff of House leader Kevin McCarthy.

According to the indictment unsealed Wednesday, Miele allegedly collected hundreds of thousands of dollars "under false pretenses" for Santos' campaign. His methods included calls and emails in which the former fundraiser posed as comedian Dan Meyer to deceive about a dozen donors.

While neither Santos nor Meyer was named in the indictment, the details in court documents correspond to the identities of both men. In addition, the former Santos worker was already the subject of a similar complaint by the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), in which it was pointed out that Miele's ruse was discovered when a donor contacted the real Meyer and asked him about the fundraiser. That's when McCarthy's former chief of staff let him know that he wasn't the one collecting money for Santos.

The indictment also alleges that in a letter from Miele to Santos, the former fundraiser admitted to falsifying an identity, noting that he took a "high risk" to obtain a "high reward."

Miele released on bail

The accusation against the former Santos worker was formally processed on Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn, where Miele pleaded "not guilty" and was released on a bail of $150,000.