Santos Arrested on Whopping 13 Counts in Sweeping Federal Indictment
Screenshot via CBS New York
Congressman George Santos (R-NY) has been taken into federal custody after the Department Justice released a 13-count indictment for wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to the U.S. House of Representatives, which he presently serves in. He is expected to appear in court later on Wednesday
According to a DOJ press release, Santos is alleged to have “embezzled contributions from supporters, fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits, and lied in disclosures to the House of Representatives.”
Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York gave the following statement:
Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself. He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives. My Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to aggressively root out corruption and self-dealing from our community’s public institutions and hold public officials accountable to the constituents who elected them
Anne T. Donnelly, the district attorney for Nassau County, provided a more detailed explanation of the allegations against Santos. “At the height of the pandemic in 2020, George Santos allegedly applied for and received unemployment benefits while he was employed and running for Congress,” said Donnelly.
“As charged in the indictment, the defendant’s alleged behavior continued during his second run for Congress when he pocketed campaign contributions and used that money to pay down personal debts and buy designer clothing,” she added.
Santos recently announced that he would seek to represent New York’s 3rd congressional district for a second term despite bipartisan pressure on him to resign during his first. Shortly after his election last year, Santos’s complicated web of lies about his past came undone.
At various times, Santos has purported to be a descendant of Holocaust survivors, an ex-employee of Goldman Sachs, and a college volleyball star with no evidence to back up any of it. He’s also falsely claimed that his mother was in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 among other whoppers.
“I’m not surprised. I understand this is where it was headed,” Nicole Malliotakis, another Republican representative from the Empire State told CNN. “I would love to see someone new run because I can tell you that we will hold that seat and so the sooner Santos leaves, the sooner we can get someone in there that is not a liar.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
