George Santos Accused of Sexual Harassment by Prospective Aide

A man who applied to work with embattled gay Republican Rep. George Santos has accused Santos of sexual harassment and described in a complaint unwanted touching from the congressman.

Derek Myers said on Twitter that he filed a police report to Capitol authorities and the House Ethics Committee after Santos allegedly harassed him while Myers worked in the lawmaker’s office. Not only did Myers accused Santos of harassment, but he also said that Santos violated House rules after he served as an unpaid volunteer who was promised pay and employment.

“These matters will hopefully be appropriately addressed by the police and the Ethics Committee, respectively in due time,” Myers tweeted.

He added, “They are serious offenses and the evidence and facts will speak for themselves if the committee takes up the matter.”

Myers said he posted the complaint on Twitter to be transparent.

In the letter, Myers wrote that he was offered a job by Santos to be a staff assistant at Santos’s Capitol office. He wrote that he was told by the office that he would be working as a “volunteer” until his payroll information was processed.

He then wrote that Santos had sexually harassed him.

“On Wednesday, January 25, I was alone with the Congressman in his personal office going over mail correspondence from constituents and making my recommendations for which letters we should respond. The Congressman earlier in the day had asked me if I had a ‘Grindr’ profile,” Myers wrote in the letter. “The Congressman shared with me that he, himself had a profile.”

Myers said that Santos told Myers to sit beside him in his office and then placed his hand on Myers's leg. Santos allegedly said that he was going to karaoke that night and invited Myers. Myers said he declined the invitation.

“The Congressman proceeded to take his hand and move it down my leg into my inner-thigh and proceeded to touch my groin,” Myers wrote.

He continued, “He proceeded to look at me and say, ‘My husband is out of town tonight if you want to come over’ and went on to tell me where [he] lived. I quickly pushed the Congressman’s hand away and grabbed the mail from the table and proceeded to discuss the topic of my constituent correspondence.”

Myers explained in the letter that he had his job offer rescinded on February 1.

He ended the letter by asking the House Ethics Committee to investigate Santos for sexual harassment and rules over volunteering with his office.

The New York Times reports that the ranking member of the House Ethics Committee, Rep. Susan Wild, confirmed that her office had received the letter from Myers.

A day before Myers went public with his complaint, news media reported about recordings Myers had made with Santos and Santos’s chief of staff, Charley Lovett.

Myers faced wiretapping charges in Ohio last year after a newspaper he ran shared audio of testimony from a courtroom after the paper was sent the audio from someone else, the Times Reports.

Santos is under a number of investigations after his financial dealings and business. He’s made numerous lies about his biography ranging from having Jewish heritage to having been employed by top banks in New York. A recent poll found that 78 percent of voters in Santos’s own district believe he should resign. Only 7 percent of voters view him favorably.

The Advocate has reached out to Myers, Santos’s office, Capitol Police, and the House Ethics Committee for comment.