News Clips

"This member of Congress has flaunted campaign finance laws," Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause/New York said. "There is no respect for the rules or the voters." According to Lerner, the personal financial disclosures made by candidates are critical for voters to have at their disposal prior to casting their vote. She says  "porous" campaign finance laws and lack of enforcement from the FEC have allowed this particular situation to devolve.

“House Republicans’ proposal will handcuff the nonpartisan ethics office, making it more difficult to ensure there are consequences for breaking the rules,” said Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, in a news release Monday evening after the House GOP approved its rules package. “As their first legislative act, Congressional Republicans have decided to significantly weaken the independent ethics office. Their actions are a complete failure of leadership.”

Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at the nonpartisan watchdog Common Cause, said Monday the changes would “handcuff” and “significantly weaken” the OCE.

“At first glance, it comes across as neutral, but it seems clear it hamstrings OCE,” said Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs for Common Cause. “Without a full slate, then they can’t really take actions. Another provision says they have to make hiring decisions within the first 30 days, but they can’t do that without a full slate of board members.” 

Ethics watchdogs are also monitoring developments. Susan Lerner, executive director for Common Cause New York, called on Santos to resign. Lerner told CBS News she had never seen an instance like this. "This is really, really breathtakingly shocking," Lerner said. "There have been instances where candidates have exaggerated their background…haven't seen anybody who's made up an entirely false life story." It's unclear whether House GOP leadership will urge any action. "There are always charlatans who will try and fool the system. And the question really is, can the system protect itself? And that's what we're going to see," Lerner said. "Can Congress set standards for who is appropriately a member of the House of Representatives or not?"

“When you have somebody who had almost no assets and now suddenly has millions—the question is, who does he owe allegiance to?” said Susan Lerner, executive director of the government-watchdog group Common Cause New York.