(NewsNation) — Richard Osthoff is a veteran who says Rep. George Santos scammed thousands of dollars from a fundraiser intended to save the life of his dying dog, an accusation Santos denies. Now, Osthoff said he’s considering a defamation lawsuit against Santos.

Does Osthoff have a case?

Mark Bankston, the attorney who won a defamation case against Alex Jones on behalf of the parents of Sandy Hook victim Jesse Lewis, says “probably.”

“If what he can substantiate is true and that he did have conversations and interactions with George Santos, and then you’ve got Santos in public telling the world ‘no, this man is not telling the truth and is attacking me’ for whatever poor motive, that impugns Osthoff’s reputation and his good name,” Bankston said Friday on “Dan Abrams Live.”

Osthoff, who was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2002, has also accused Santos of setting up a GoFundMe account for his dog Sapphire in 2016 but never handing over the money.

Osthoff said a vet tech told him about Anthony Devolder — a name Santos has previously gone by — and his charity Friends of Pets United. Santos has used the Devolder name for years. As Osthoff waited to receive the money for Sapphire’s surgery to remove a tumor, she had to be put down.

In a recent interview with NewsNation host Dan Abrams, Santos denied the allegations, saying: “It didn’t happen.”

Santos also insisted he doesn’t know Osthoff: “I’ve never met him. He said it on air, he’s never met me. I’ve never spoken to him. He insists he has. I don’t even know this man’s number.”

However, Osthoff has produced text messages he says are from Santos.

While Bankston says it seems Osthoff has a valid defamation claim on the mertis, it’s not a catastrophic case.

“There aren’t a lot of huge damages. It’s not like the guy lost his job, it hasn’t wiped out his life, and the problem with this country is that in order to have these kind of cases, most of these lawyers are going to need to see a high financial incentive to do it,” Bankston said.

Santos’ tenure in Congress has been mired by allegations that he lied about his resume — which he admitted — and a criminal indictment.

Santos has been charged with — and pleaded not guilty to — duping donors, stealing from his campaign and lying to Congress about being a millionaire, all while cheating to collect unemployment benefits he didn’t deserve.

He has admitted to lying about his resume and apologized, but said previously it wouldn’t stop him from serving in Congress.

Given Santos’ track record, one problem Bankston foresees with any defamation claim is that Osthoff would face a high hurdle to show people believed the statements Santos made about him.

“You may be able to find that theoretically somebody did, but in terms of proving the damages, how many people are you going to be able to find or make a credible argument that his reputation has been destroyed?” Bankston said. “The almost universal public reaction is, ‘This is another example of Santos doing what Santos does,’ and everybody seems to believe Mr. Osthoff on this.”