George Santos appeared for the first time before the federal judge presiding over his fraud case, even as the embattled Republican fights an effort to expel him from the US House of Representatives.
(Bloomberg) — George Santos appeared for the first time before the federal judge presiding over his fraud case, even as the embattled Republican fights an effort to expel him from the US House of Representatives.
Santos appeared Friday before US District Judge Joanna Seybert in Central Islip, New York, wearing a gray jacket, white dress shirt and coral tie. At the hearing, which lasted less than 15 minutes, prosecutor Ryan Harris said the government had turned over more than 80,000 pages of evidence this week. Seybert, a Bill Clinton appointee, set the next hearing for Sept. 7.
Santos, who is free on a $500,000 bond, was charged in a 13-count indictment, unsealed last month, alleging he engaged in a scheme to tap campaign contributions for his personal expenses. Prosecutors also accused him of fraudulently receiving more than $24,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits as well as lying in disclosures to the House. He has pleaded not guilty.
Santos, 34, faces as many as 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges of wire fraud and money laundering, the government says, although under federal sentencing guidelines his term would probably be shorter.
The case comes at a precarious time for House Republicans, whose narrow edge in the chamber means that to pass most bills they can’t have more than a handful of defections. The House Ethics Committee said in a statement this month that its investigative panel was “actively working to resolve this matter in an expeditious timeframe and has issued over 30 subpoenas and more than 40 voluntary requests for information.”
The committee said it had expanded its investigation to include the unemployment insurance allegations and that it was coordinating with the Justice Department to “mitigate the potential risks” of a dual probe.
Santos was elected to Congress in November and sworn into office as the representative for New York’s 3rd Congressional District in January. His improbable rags-to-riches story rang alarm bells that led to the discovery of numerous falsehoods he purveyed, including that he had worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and graduated from Baruch College after playing on its championship volleyball team. The congressman has said he may have embellished his resume but never broke the law.
Santos’s district, which includes part of Queens and much of Nassau County, leans Democratic.
The case is US v. Santos, 23-cr-197, US District Court, Eastern District of New York (Central Islip).
–With assistance from Gregory Korte.
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