Among the many explanations for his federal indictment yesterday, Rep. George Santos, the embattled New York Republican who’s been charged with fraud, has come up with a particularly novel one: He’s being targeted due to his vocal support of exiled Chinese billionaire and fellow alleged scammer Miles Guo.
On Wednesday afternoon, the congressman hinted at a connection between his association with Guo and the 13-count indictment on Twitter.
He’s referring to a Gettr livestream produced by Guo’s fanbase that he appeared on just days before his charges were filed.
Miles Guo, also known as Guo Wengui, Miles Kwok, and a smattering of other aliases, is a Chinese billionaire who claimed to have fled persecution from the Chinese Communist Party. He became associated with Steve Bannon after former President Donald Trump first took office, and he’s since enmeshed himself in election denier circles.
In 2019, Bannon reportedly signed a $1 million contract with a Guo firm for “consulting services,” and the former Trump advisor also served on the board of a nonprofit Guo formed called the Rule of Law Society before departing in 2021. Bannon was even arrested on Guo’s yacht back in 2020 over the “We Build The Wall” scam.
Guo was charged with ten criminal counts relating to an alleged fraud scheme worth $1 million back in March, as TPM has reported. According to the indictment, Guo and an associate named William Je created a “series of complex fraudulent and fictitious businesses” through which they allegedly defrauded thousands of investors.
Federal prosecutors accused Guo of allegedly using investments on personal expenses, including (but not limited to) a Porsche, a Rolls Royce, a “superyacht,” a $62,000 smart TV, and a New Jersey mansion.
Santos had apparently become acquainted with Guo, and even tweeted in support of freeing Guo on Monday night.
“I won’t stop until we end the CCP influence in the United States,” he wrote. “For starters we need to #freeMilesGuo and give him his day in court, only then will we know how much of our country is compromised by the #CCP.”
He could have seen kinship in Guo, considering federal prosecutors have accused Santos himself of using campaign funds on luxury designer clothes.
