‘Sick puppy’ George Santos once charged in bad-checks-for-puppies scam: report

Rep. George Santos — whom a colleague referred to as a “sick puppy” earlier this week — was reportedly charged in connection with $15,125 in bad checks paid to Pennsylvania dog breeders in 2017, according to a new report.

Days after those checks were written in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country, Santos held a pet adoption event at a Long Island pet store, Politico reported. The Republican lawmaker, who’s been exposed for lie after lie since winning office, reportedly claimed his check book was stolen and had the charge expunged from his record.

A lawyer who advised Santos after Pennsylvania police came to his Queens home in 2020 told Politico the 34-year-old lawmaker claimed that in 2017, he reported a missing checkbook to his bank and those checks were cancelled.

That attorney said she showed investigators the signatures on the checks in question didn’t match Santos’ handwriting. The charges were dropped. Santos’ lawyer-friend, who knew the congressman from middle school, told Politico she now doubts his side of the Pennsylvania story.

The memo line on the checks from Santos account read “Puppies.”

A spokesperson for Santos’ office referred the matter to his lawyer, who did not immediately answer a request for comment. Politico said it received no response to its reporting.

Since his November election, Santos has been dogged by reports he lied about almost every aspect of his life while seeking office. One of his boasts was about running a highly successful pet rescue organization called Friends of Pets United, now the focus of an FBI probe.

A homeless New Jersey veteran last month accused Santos of once using his alleged connections in the pet world to raise $3,000 for a life-saving operation for the vet’s dog — then keeping the cash and leaving the pit bull to die. Santos denies that charge, having admitted he made up parts of his resume but saying he’s broken no laws.

[ Rep. George Santos faces new push for expulsion from House ]

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) referred to Santos as a “sick puppy” after snubbing him in the U.S. Capitol during President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.

“He’s a sick puppy,” Romney told reporters. “He shouldn’t have been there.”