Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees: Interview With Rep. Brandon William (R-NY)

Interview

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Well, I'll tell you, you know, I guess it was an ATM scheme. It looks like he has -- yes, he has been using the -- it looks like he's been using Nassau County donors as ATMs and he just upped his game.

So I think it's a continuation of, frankly, of a confidence scheme, very much like Bernie Madoff and it is all being exposed. So the fact that his deception goes much farther back doesn't surprise me at all.

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Can you imagine how excited, you know, Mr. Santos must be or must have been to realize that he could, you know, do something on a larger scale, even running for Congress, not once, but twice. You know, remember that Bernie Madoff cheated a lot of very sophisticated people out of their money. And I think that George Santos has cheated a whole lot of sophisticated voters out of their vote.

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Well, I'm confident of a couple of things, Anderson. I'm confident that leadership has taken the steps to initiate this ethics investigation that it will be thorough. I'm actually confident that the FEC similarly will do its investigation and appears like there's a lot to look at there.

I know that Nassau County prosecutors are also looking and I guarantee you the table will do a very exceptional job. And I'm confident that we're going to see George Santos in handcuffs in front of a judge, hopefully not in the just too distant future.

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I do. I do. Absolutely.

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Well, I think I know that his neighbors like Anthony D'Esposito, Nick LaLota, Nicole Malliotakis, they've all opened up their offices for constituents, you know, on Long Island and in the vicinity to use their offices for whatever services are needed. So I think there's been a lot of help offered.

And in terms of his role, he's not on any committees, he's not very popular. I can tell you that. And I'm not sure what, you know, what work that he might be getting done. What concerns me, Anderson is that he still has a security clearance. And, therefore, as a member of Congress is actually entitled to briefings that involve top secret information. That concerns me a lot, and I think that needs to be looked at.

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Well, I would say, the issue that I'm most concerned with is that the people of Nassau County are the victims here. And they're victims because they were defrauded out of the right to be represented. I think the House is also the victim. And so those are the things that are sort of top of mind when I think about what's happening with George Santos.

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I bumped into him on the floor. And I have to tell you, it's awkward. Because he was part of the New York delegation. I'd never met him in person until we were in orientation. My wife and I extended the hand of friendship as we did to, you know, all the new members.

And, you know, it was within probably a week or two that the wheels started coming off. And I found that pretty disappointing.

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Yes, sir. Thank you.

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