Global Courant
NEW YORK (AP) – A man who briefly worked as an assistant for the US Representative George Santos says he got his job after sending a series of payments to one of the Republican’s top delegates.
Derek Myers, 31, told staff on the House Ethics subcommittee during an interview Wednesday that while trying to get a job in Santos’s congressional office in late January, he made at least seven $150 payments to Santos’s director of operations, Vish Burra. , had sent. .
Myers shared details of the payments, including receipts and text messages, with The Associated Press. His account of how Burra helped him get hired has not been published before and raises questions about potential ethical improprieties surrounding Santos.
Myers said he began sending the money unsolicited because he believed Burra, a right-wing political operative, was not being paid by the House at the time and could not afford food. But he said he also hoped the payments would help him find a job.
“Burra was a powerful person,” Myers told the AP. “I wanted him to plead on my behalf.”
Burra, a reliable presence alongside Santos who then helped his boss lead journalists away his arraignment in federal court last month declined to comment.
Home detectives questioned Myers about the payments, documented in receipts and text messages, as part of an investigation into workplace sexual harassment allegations Myers made after he was fired from Santos’ staff in February.
Myers, a former journalist, was offered a job as a legislative assistant in late January but held out for less than a week. At the time, Santos told Myers he was concerned about the findings of a background check, which revealed that Myers had been charged with wiretapping in Ohio after publishing a recording of a trial.
In a letter to the House Committee on Ethics in February, Myers said he was impeached after rejecting Santos’ sexual advances, accusing the congressman of running his hand down his inner thigh and touching his groin while she was alone in the office. goods.
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Santos has denied the accusation, describing it as “comic”.
The House Ethics Committee is investigating several allegations of improper conduct by Santos, who has admitted fabricating much of his biography and is currently facing federal charges, including fraud and money laundering.
Last month, Republicans sat in the House of Representatives bypassed a vote to oust Santos, referring the matter to the ethics panel. The committee has not disclosed who it is interviewing or when a decision may be made.
On Wednesday, members of the commission questioned Myers for two hours about his allegations of sexual harassment, his relationship with Burra and whether he had witnessed any illegal conduct during his short stint in office.
He described finding Burra online and then pushing for a job at Santos’ office out of a genuine desire to help the scandal-ridden rep.
Myers also provided documentation, including emails and text messages with staffers and receipts showing his Venmo payments to Burra.
In his interview, Myers said that Burra had not asked him for money, but had once asked him to “send more pizza,” which he said was a reference to the pizza emoji they had previously used in Venmo topics.
The house detectives asked Myers about a text exchange he had with Burra on January 29, days after he was offered the job. In that conversation, Myers had asked Burra, “Did you get a payroll yet?”
“No. You didn’t have to do that guy,” Burra replied, adding later, “I’m definitely going to pay you back.”
Myers acknowledged during his interview with the house detectives that he secretly recorded at least one conversation with Santos and later shared it with a journalist. He also said he went to the FBI while still working for Santos, with the intention of possibly working as a confidential informant for law enforcement.
He said he decided to speak out about the harassment incident after being forced to quit his job.
