Sent payments before being hired, ex-Santos aide says

NEW YORK — A man who briefly worked as an aide to U.S. Rep. George Santos says he got his job after sending a series of payments to one of the New York Republican’s top deputies.

Derek Myers, 31, told staff of the House’s ethics subcommittee in an interview Wednesday that while he was trying to get a job in Santos’ congressional office in January, he sent at least seven $150 payments to Santos’ director of operations, Vish Burra.

Myers shared details about the payments, including receipts and text messages, with The Associated Press.

Myers said he began sending the money unsolicited because he believed Burra, a right-wing political operative, wasn’t getting paid by the House at the time and couldn’t afford food. But he said he also hoped the payments might help him secure a job.

“Burra was a powerful person,” Myers told the AP. “I wanted him to advocate on my behalf.”

Burra, a reliable presence beside Santos who helped escort his boss away from journalists after his arraignment in federal court in April, declined to comment.

House investigators questioned Myers about the payments, documented in receipts and text messages, as part of a probe into workplace sexual harassment allegations Myers made after being dismissed from Santos’ staff in February.

Myers, a former journalist, received a job offer to be a legislative assistant in January, but lasted less than a week in the position. At the time, Santos told Myers he was concerned by the findings of a background check, which showed Myers had been charged with wiretapping in Ohio after publishing a recording of a trial.