CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — U.S. Rep. George Santos, notorious for fabricating his life story, pleaded not responsible Wednesday to costs he duped donors, stole from his marketing campaign and lied to Congress about being a millionaire, all whereas dishonest to gather unemployment advantages he didn’t deserve.
Santos stated afterward that he wouldn’t drop his reelection bid, defying calls to resign.
Santos’ 13-count federal indictment was a reckoning for an internet of fraud and deceit that prosecutors say overlapped with the New York Republican’s fantastical public picture as a rich businessman — a fictional biography that started to unravel after he gained election final fall.
Santos, 34, was launched on $500,000 bond following his arraignment, about 5 hours after turning himself in to face costs of wire fraud, cash laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. He surrendered his passport and will withstand 20 years in jail if convicted.
“This is the beginning of the ability for me to address and defend myself,” a cheerfully combative Santos advised reporters swarming him exterior a Long Island federal courthouse. He known as the prosecution a “witch hunt.”
His lawyer, Joseph Murray, was extra circumspect, saying: “Any time the federal government comes after you it’s a serious case. We have to take this serious.”
House Republican leaders are taking a wait-and-see method, saying Santos is harmless till confirmed responsible. Others are reiterating earlier requires Santos to step apart.
“I think we’re seeing that the wheels of justice grind slow, but they grind fine,” stated Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican who confronted Santos throughout President Joe Biden’s State of the Union deal with in February.
Asked about Santos on Wednesday, Biden stated, “I’m not commenting,” including that something he stated can be construed by some interfering within the investigation. Asked if Congress ought to expel Santos, Biden stated, “That’s for Congress to decide.”
Among the allegations, prosecutors say Santos induced supporters to donate to an organization below the false pretense that the cash can be used to assist his marketing campaign. Instead, they are saying, he used the cash for private bills, together with designer garments and bank card and automotive funds.
Santos is also accused of mendacity about his funds on congressional disclosure kinds and acquiring unemployment advantages whereas he was making $120,000 a 12 months as regional director of an funding agency that the federal government shut down in 2021 over allegations that it was a Ponzi scheme.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”