Vet Who Claimed George Santos Stole Thousands From His Dying Dog Fumes at Republican: ‘I Want Him in Trouble Now’
Last week, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) appeared on NewsNation to answer for his startling record of lying about almost every aspect of his career. But then, unprompted, he defended himself against allegations that he stole money that was meant to help pay for surgery for a disabled Navy veteran’s service dog. On Tuesday, that veteran visited NewsNation to tell his side of the story.
Santos sat through a grilling from Dan Abrams, owner of Mediaite, and Richard Osthoff, the veteran and owner of Sapphire the service dog came to the NewsNation studio himself to offer up what Santos normally does not: the truth. Clips of the interview were played by Dan Abrams Live guest host Jesse Weber, who gave Osthoff the chance for a rebuttal. Not only did Osthoff have a response, he brought receipts.
In the interview with Abrams, Santos said about Osthoff: “I’ve never met him. He said it on air. He’s never met me. I’ve never spoken to him. He insists he has. I don’t even know this man’s number.”
What might be partially true is that Osthoff never met or knew George Santos. But the person he did know was Anthony Devolder, an alias used by Santos while he allegedly committed several acts of fraud. Osthoff told Weber:
He knows he spoke to me. I have all the receipts, all of the text messages, everything to prove it. I even talked to him about two months ago, and he answered the phone for me. He knows who I am. He’s gaslighting me and he’s gaslighting the American public every time he defames me.
Those texts, as well as the contact sheet with Anthony Devolder’s phone number (which was blurred out), were displayed throughout the interview. As are many of Santos’ lies, this was so easy to prove, as Weber pointed out in amazement:
That’s the part that I don’t understand. We have these text messages. It seems like it’s pretty easy to establish he spoke to you. Unless I guess he’s saying he wasn’t one communicating with you?
Technically, Osthoff was communicating with Anthony Devolder — at least through a third party, but only at first. Eventually, Osthoff confirmed that he had directly spoken with Devolder aka Santos.
It is a bit stunning how bad Santos is at lying, continues to do it, continues to get caught, and still tries to dance around it. But all this aside, Santos’ behavior cost Osthoff his beloved service dog. The whole reason Osthoff and Santos crossed paths was a fundraiser to raise the money for medical treatment for Sapphire. “Anthony Devolder” ran a charity called Friends of Pets United, which was how $3,000 was raised for Sapphire’s surgery to remove a large tumor. But Osthoff never got the money, and Sapphire died before she could get the life-saving surgery. According to Osthoff, Santos took the money for himself — and he wasn’t Santos’ only victim:
He’s done so much stuff with his pet charity that he lied to me in one of the text messages and said that it was registered with the IRS. He’s ripped off Amish breeders. He’s ripped off a lot of people around here with his adoption events. He ripped off a lady down in New Jersey. He held a farm event for her. They had a big barbecue picnic and he was supposed to pay money to her due to the people that showed up there. And he kept all of that money, too. So I believe that the FBI is still trying to bundle all this stuff into another indictment.
And after trying and failing to “bury the hatchet” and straighten things out with Santos, Osthoff told Weber: “I want him in trouble now.”
Watch the full interview via NewsNation.
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