UPDATE: Wednesday, May 10, 2023 · 7:42:40 PM +00:00
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Hunter
After pleading not guilty, Santos told the press he won’t be resigning and will now be returning to the House to vote on upcoming bills. As Rep. Don Beyer pointed out, one of those bills is a Republican-pushed bill to cut funding for the prevention of unemployment fraud. Any guesses as to how he’ll vote on that one?
Rep. George Santos, the freshman New York Republican and compulsive liar, has been charged with a host of financial crimes including fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds in an indictment released Wednesday. Santos surrendered himself to authorities in New York Wednesday morning. He is expected to appear in federal court in Central Islip on Long Island later Wednesday.
The 13 counts in the indictment include seven counts of wire fraud, some connected to fraudulently taking unemployment benefits; three counts of money laundering; one count of stealing public funds; and two counts of lying to Congress.
“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," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. “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.”
The news that Santos was facing criminal charges broke Tuesday evening. The best you could say about him at this point is that he didn’t flee the country immediately. Santos has proven to be a habitual if not compulsive liar, telling false stories about everything from his education to his mother’s death to his sexuality. He lied about the little things, and according to this indictment, he lied criminally about some very big things.
As of Wednesday morning Santos is still a member of the House of Representatives despite being the subject of a number of investigations. House Republicans allowed him to take his seat in January even after the scope of his lies and alleged criminal behavior were being exposed right after the election. Santos hasn’t been forced to resign because Speaker Kevin McCarthy needs his vote, and because his seat could flip to Democratic control in a special election if he were forced out.
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