POLITICS
Rep. George Santos Pleads Not Guilty To Latest Fraud Charges
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Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on Friday pleaded not guilty to 10 additional fraud charges during his arraignment on the superseding indictment in Long Island federal court.
The superseding indictment was filed earlier this month, replacing a 13-count indictment filed in May, alleging he stole the identities of campaign donors and used their credit cards to make tens of thousands of dollars worth of fraudulent purchases.
In the original indictment, Santos was charged with wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to the House of Representatives. The charges were related to campaign finance schemes, as well as an unlawful application for unemployment benefits.
According to the updated indictment, which adds ten new charges, Santos is accused of increasing both his personal bank account and his campaign coffers by fraudulently charging the credit cards of campaign donors.
“As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing peoples identities and making charges on his own donors credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign. Santos falsely inflated the campaigns reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen,” Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
“The defendant — a Congressman — allegedly stole the identities of family members and used the credit card information of political contributors to fraudulently inflate his campaign coffers,” said District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “We thank our partners in the US Attorneys Office and the FBI as we work together to root out public corruption on Long Island.”
Earlier this month, former Santos campaign treasurer Nancy Marks pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge. In court, she admitted that Santos filed false reports indicating he had loaned his campaign $500,000, in order to impress party leaders and gain their support.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert set a trial date of Sept. 9, 2024.
Santos previously pleaded not guilty to the charges in the first indictment, and has rejected calls for his resignation.
On Thursday, House Republicans from New York led by Rep. Anthony D’Esposito introduced a privileged resolution that would force a vote on whether to expel Santos from Congress within two legislative days.
In response, Santos posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he is not resigning.
Im entitled to due process and not a predetermined outcome as some are seeking, Santos wrote.
New York’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes parts of Queens and Long Island, is one of a handful of seats in New York that flipped to Republicans, and Democrats are hoping to retake in 2024.
New York Democrat Tom Suozzi, who gave the seat up last year in order to run for governor, this month launched his campaign to retake it.
TMX contributed to this article.
