Is Jorge Santos now trying to hide Spotify?

with file Revelation George Santos The congressman seems to fall for it every day, and he seems to be trying to prevent at least one thing from leaking: his Spotify account.

Santos He appears to have taken unusual countermeasures to mask Spotify — a seemingly innocuous piece of his digital footprint reveals only that he’s a fan of Brazilian music, enjoys drag queen tunes, and gives his playlists awkward names like “Vibes” and “Spin.”

The Daily Beast contacted Santos Several times this week he asks if the account is his. Santos didn’t respond at first — and then denied ever owning Spotify.

But within hours after the first voicemail communication on his mobile phone, the account name was changed from “Mr. Dee”—a possible play on “Devolder”, one of his better-known nicknames—to “ABC123”.

This wasn’t the only detail that made the relationship between Santos and the account more than coincidental.

This story did not start with Santos. It started with a look at Matthews Gerrard – the man Santos He says he is married to – and his social media. Spotify was in the mix. Gerrard only followed three accounts: one that appears to be an acquaintance of his, one of musician David Guetta, and one about “Mr. D.”

Few things made Mr. Dee suspicious. Not only did Gerard follow him, but he and Mr. Dee followed Collaborative playlist together, which are on Gerrard’s account, under the heading “died”. Santos generally referred to his wife as “Matt,” but Gerrard didn’t seem to go over Matt broadly on his social media.

Then there’s the fact that Mr. Dee’s music tastes indicate an interest in drag. A video of Santos wearing a jacket named Kitara Ravache recently surfaced; The Republican initially denied it was him only to later say he was just having fun at a festival.

Mr. Dee’s “Gym” playlist includes songs like “Adrenaline” and “Sissy That Walk” by American drag queen RuPaul. They also include RuPaul’s “American” and the cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 10 — a patriotic song of inclusion that runs counter to nearly every aspect of the Republicans’ anti-LGBT platform.

For example, one verse reads, “Watch me smile and watch me kill. Because I live for my true self every single day. It’s not about color, gender, or size. But if we come together, we can rise.”

Another data point is Santos’ heritage – he’s Brazilian. And Mr. D shows a particular vulnerability to Brazilian drag queen Pablo Vitar on his “Happy list” and “Turn up” playlists. The entire playlists feature a number of other Brazilian artists, including Lorena Simpson, Alan Natal, Luisa Sonza, and Anita (an artist Santos follows on Instagram).

Further evidence came when The Daily Beast identified Mr. Dee’s second only follower as Lianna Farnesi. Farnesi works for Templar Baker, a consulting group that Santos contracted heavily for throughout his campaign, spending more than $102,000 on the company’s services, according to Campaign finance reports.

Farnese has been a senior staffer for Santos throughout its 2022 campaign. Over invitations to events for a 2021 Fundraising Campaign And as Santos celebrates his 2023 swearing-in, Farnese is listed as a point of contact. And before she made her Twitter account private after the midterm elections, she was a huge fan of Santos. a Capture the Wayback Machine Her Twitter featured a long string of posts detailing Santos’ time on the road and praising his victory over Democrat Robert Zimmerman.

It is not clear exactly when Farnesi became private. It did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast.

The Daily Beast attempted to reach the congressman about the account, calling his mobile phone on Monday afternoon and leaving a voicemail inquiring about the “Mr. D account.”

Santos did not return the call. But by Tuesday morning, the name “Mr. Dee” had been changed to “ABC123.” Santos’ husband, Gerard, had unfollowed the account (though he did not remove ABC123, formerly known as Mr. Dee, from the collaborative playlist they share). Farnesi is still following the account as of Thursday.

On Tuesday afternoon, Santos was approached by The Daily Beast at the Capitol to ask about the account. After noticing that a voicemail had been left on his phone regarding a Spotify inquiry, Santos interrupted with a “Voicemail, where?”

He insisted that reporters who leave voicemails “sometimes get the wrong numbers” and should email his team instead.

The Daily Beast is sure the number used is the correct Santos number.

After continuing to ask about the account and identifying it as under the name “Mr. Dee,” Santos interrupted again—“I don’t use Spotify. I use Pandora.”

There is a public Pandora account under the name “georgedevolderThere’s also another Spotify account under the name “Anthony Devolder” that uses Santos’s official congressional nod; it’s unclear if it was an unauthorized impersonation, or a forward-facing official account that for some reason decided to go by Anthony Devolder instead.

Spotify isn’t the only social media Santos seems to be shutting down. As of mid-January, the congressman had a public Venmo page, including his list of 157 friends, and a collection of public payment transactions. But last week, He did all his previous transactionsMany special emojis.

The effort to shut down his digital presence makes sense. Santos seems, quite literally, She didn’t stop lying throughout his campaign. Each week new announcements about his previous observations appear, like the one revealed this week MSNBC that Santos claimed to be the victim of an assassination attempt.

Also on Tuesday, it was The Daily Beast The first to report Santos’ campaign appears to have suddenly changed its mind about the source of $705,000 in personal loans to his campaign. In a newly filed amendment to his campaign finance reports, the campaign said the loans were not, in fact, drawn from his own funds. The reports did not specify where the money actually came from, and Santos refuses to say so.

With a history like that, even small ideas — like a Spotify page — can matter.

While Santos’ apparent affinity for drag artists is one takeaway from his Spotify account, it’s far from the only impression.

There are a lot of daily tunes associated with Mr. D’s account. There are bands like “Tonight (I’m Fuckin’ You)” by Enrique Iglesias, “This Is What You Came For” by Calvin Harris and Rihanna, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X and “Sucker” by the Jonas Brothers . (Santos also follows Nick Jonas on Instagram, plus After several drag queen accounts.)

In general, whoever of “Mr. Dee”, their musical tastes definitely lean towards pop, with some house music mixed in.

The Daily Beast listened to Mr. D’s longest playlist – “The Gym” – while writing much of this article and can see how good background noise it would be for a workout. It had fast paced and energetic songs with plenty of bass. The final song on the playlist, Andra Day’s “Rise Up,” would also be excellent for a cool-down or some post-workout stretch.

when talking about totally Not Being a Spotify user, Santos inquired as he entered the Capitol elevator, “Are you interested in my music preferences?”

When The Daily Beast responded, Santos provided at least one small piece of information.

“My favorite jam right now: The Sam Smith song,”unholyHe said as the elevator door closed.

Will Brederman, Jose Paglieri and Pilar Melendez contributed to this report.