New Jersey veteran Richard Osthoff told CNN’s Don Lemon Thursday morning that he lost faith in humanity and even felt suicidal after congressman George Santos made off with $3,000 intended to provide lifesaving surgery for his service dog.
During an appearance on “CNN This Morning,” Osthoff and fellow Navy veteran Michael Boll discussed the fallout from the 2016 incident, which saw Santos set up a GoFundMe campaign and then suddenly go silent.
Asked what he would say to Santos if he were here now, Osthoff answered: “‘Do you have a heart? Do you have a soul?’ He probably would lie about that.”
“I mean, I don’t want you to ever hurt anyone like you hurt me, George,” he continued, looking to the camera and adding that no one should have to experience what he went through.
Osthoff said he “almost killed himself” following the death of his dog Sapphire, who desperately needed an operation for a stomach tumor.
As first reported Tuesday by Patch, Santos (under the pseudonym Anthony Devolder) offered to launch the GoFundMe campaign through his charity Friends of Pets United. Osthoff, who was homeless at the time and unemployed after breaking his leg, accepted. Santos stopped answering his calls and texts once the money had been raised, and the account disappeared.
Boll told Lemon “we expect nothing to come out of this for Santos,” who is being called on to resign as he faces multiple criminal investigations.
“But I know that America has people that love veterans, and have already reached out to us and offered to help,” Boll continued. “So I’m happy to know there’s people out there that really see the good that we do and show love to our veterans and help them. So I see the good out of this.”
Osthoff added that Santos “really took a piece of my heart” and left his opinion of humanity “extremely diminished, crashed into the floor.”
“The outpouring I’ve seen over the last few days from people commenting on my story online … everybody is positive about this,” he said. People have even reached out offering to provide financial assistance and find him another service dog.
“They really brought me back up with my value and insight in humanity again,” he continued. “George wrecked it, but these people, with their hearts and what they’ve been offering to me – I trust people again.”
Watch a clip from the “CNN This Morning” interview in the video above.
