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George Santos hit with sexual harassment claim from ex-staffer who complains of ethics violation over pay

February 5, 2023 | | Print Article

Well, it’s a new day, and, as is now becoming the norm, that means there’s a new George Santos scandal sweeping social media.

According to Derek Myers, 30, Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) hired him as a staff assistant on January 23, and by January 25, the Congressman was asking Myers if he “had a ‘Grindr’ profile, which is widely-known as an LGBTQ+ social networking app, more commonly used for sexual intercourse.”

It was apparently an “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” kind of moment, as Myers alleges the lawmaker said, “he, himself had a profile.”

Santos also inappropriately touched his groin and invited him home because his husband was “out of town,” Myers writes in a letter to the House Committee on Ethics.

Myers announced his request for an investigation in a Twitter thread on Friday.

“Today, I filed a police report with @CapitolPolice and a complaint with @CongressEthics regarding ethical violations and sexual harassment by Congressman George Santos during my time working in his office,” he wrote.

Myers called Santos’s alleged offenses “serious” and said he is sharing his allegations on Twitter for the sake of “transparency.”

“These matters will not be litigated on social media or through news media. They are serious offenses and the evidence and facts will speak for themselves if the committee takes up the matter,” he wrote. “This tweet is being made public in light of transparency.”

There are two prongs to Myers’ complaint.

In addition to sexually harassing him, the former staffer says Santos violated House Ethics pay rules.

“As stated in the filings, my complaint pertains to violations of House Ethics in which I was an unpaid volunteer performing staff duties with the promise of employment and compensation, only to be released after several days of work without compensation,” he tweeted.


In the complaint, Myers wrote: “I was told that my title was ‘volunteer’ until my paperwork would be processed through ‘the payroll department.’ I was told this process could take several days, but that I would work in the office until then under the title ‘volunteer.'”

“Since this,” he continues, “I have learned that such volunteer work within a Congressional office without the correct procedures being followed is in violation of the House Ethics and I am requesting this serve as an official request for 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.”

Regarding the sexual harassment allegations, if Myers’ account is accurate, Santos’s behavior toward him was as pathetic as trying to impress potential donors by pretending to be the producer of a Broadway musical disaster starring Spider-Man.

No, really. He actually did that.

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

As he did so, Santos placed “his hand on my left leg, near my knee,” Myers recalled.

“I kindly declined the invitation by telling the Congressman I was not a fan of clubs and bars and that I was not a good singer,” Myers wrote. “The Congressman proceeded to take his hand and move it down my leg into my inner-thigh and proceeded to touch my groin.”

“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 the Congressman lived,” Myers continued.

He allegedly “quickly” pushed Santos away and shut down the unwanted advance by changing the subject to “constituent correspondence.”

On Jan. 30, Meyers says he was called into Santos’s office and asked again about his “background as a journalist” and “matters that had already been disclosed in my conversations with hiring managers from the Congressman’s office prior to my job offer.”

“On Wednesday, February 1, I was informed that my job offer was being rescinded,” Myers wrote.

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


In response to the latest Santos bombshell, Twitter users are clearly exhausted with the steady flow of scandals.

“It’s just one thing after another with this dude!” wrote one user. “Drip drip drip.”

Melissa Fine
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