Watch: George Santos appears in court ahead of corruption trial

Watch outside a New York court as George Santos appeared on corruption charges on Tuesday, 12 December.

The expelled Republican appeared in court in Long Island for a status conference ahead of his September corruption trial.

It comes after it emerged that the former congressman is currently in talks with federal prosecutors to reach a plea deal over his criminal charges.

Prosecutors filed a letter to US District Judge Joanna Seybert on Monday, saying that the two sides are negotiating a possible plea agreement to try to avoid taking the case to trial.

Mr Santos is expected to go on trial in September, but prosecutors are asking the trial to be brought forward to May or June.

He hinted at the possibility of a plea deal over the weekend, telling CBS New York that it “is not off the table, obviously, at this point, but we just don’t know that yet”.