George Santos’ former staffer accuses congressman of sexual harassment, violating pay rules

An ex-staffer for New York GOP Rep. George Santos claims in an ethics complaint the freshman congressman touched his groin, invited him home and violated House ethics’ pay rules.

In a Twitter thread on Friday, Derek Myers, 30, wrote that he filed a complaint with the U.S. Capitol Police and the Office of Congressional Ethics about his allegations. He was purportedly hired in January and only lasted days in Santos’ office.

Myers said Santos hired him as an assistant on Jan. 25.  He went on to say the two of them were going over mail in the congressman’s Washington, D.C. office two days later when Santos asked that they sit together on a small sofa before the lawmaker placed his hand on Myers’ knee.

“Hey buddy, we’re going to karaoke tonight. Would you like to go?” Santos asked, according to Myers’ complaint posted to Twitter.

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Myers said he declined the invitation by telling Santos he was not a fan of clubs and bars and was not a good singer. 

“The Congressman proceeded to take his hand and move it down my leg into my inner thigh and proceeded to touch my groin,” the complaint said.

Santos then allegedly informed him that his husband was out of town and asked if he would like to come over.

The congressman had told him earlier that day that he had Grindr, an LGBTQ+ dating application, and asked if Myers also had a profile.

Myers further alleges that, although he was hired as a staffer, he was told he would work voluntarily until his paperwork could be processed, which he later found was a violation of House ethics rules. Myers is requesting an investigation into the “violation of allowing a volunteer to work in the workplace and offload work from paid staff members onto the volunteer with the promise of future employment,” the complaint reads.

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He said the offer to work in Santos’ office was rescinded Wednesday after the Long Island representative raised concerns about Myers secretly wiretapping him. Myers, a former local journalist in Ohio, was arrested in October for wiretapping after he recorded audio of courtroom testimony.

Myers told Santos he would never record him but then leaked a recording of one of their conversations to the press in which the congressman said, “And I’ve obviously f––ed up and lied to him, like I lied to everyone else,” referring to his chief of staff.

Santos has been exposed for lying about much of his background during his 2022 campaign, including his work and education history, connections to an alleged Ponzi scheme, his mother’s death and that he had previously been married to a woman despite now being openly gay.

He is also accused of using a fake animal charity in 2016 to scam a disabled veteran by raising money for their dog’s cancer treatment and then keeping the funds himself. Santos denies the allegation.

Santos has faced calls to resign from Republicans and Democrats in Congress and numerous New York State Republicans. He said last month that he would resign if the 142,000 people who voted for him asked him to. Last week, Santos said he would recuse himself from committee assignments.