George Santos: McCarthy changes tune to say he will not back Santos re-election bid after arrest
Freshman representative arrested and charged with wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to the House of Representatives
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George Santos, the New York Republican congressman who rose to prominence for a string of exaggerations, lies, and irregularities related to his personal background and campaign finances, has pleaded not guilty after being hit with a series of federal charges.
He told the press after exiting a Long Island courthouse on Wednesday that the probe amounted to a “witch hunt” and that he is planning to run for re-election.
Mr Santos surrendered to the authorities and was taken into custody earlier in the day before being released on a $500,000 bond ahead of his next court appearance on 30 June.
He has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
In the 13-count indictment, unsealed on Wednesday morning, federal prosecutors accused Mr Santos of lying on financial disclosure forms he filed to the House when he became a candidate, first by overstating his income from one job and failing to disclose income from another, and second by lying about his earnings from his company, the Devolder Organization.
Prosecutors also allege that Mr Santos fraudulently used donations to his political campaign for his own benefit, spending “thousands of dollars of the solicited funds on personal expenses, including luxury designer clothing and credit card payments.”
The indictment alleges that Mr Santos’ fraud began before his successful run for Congress, accusing him of running an unemployment insurance fraud scheme in which he applied for government assistance in New York while still employed by a Florida-based investment firm.
“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,” Breon Peace, the US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement.
Utah GOP Senator Mitt Romney led the calls for him to go, saying: “He has demonstrated by his untruthfulness that he should not be in the United States Congress – perhaps should not even be on the public streets.”
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has now said he will not back Mr Santos’s proposed re-election bid.
Former New York State Senator announces campaign to ‘defeat Santos'
Unidentified wife filed for divorce in 2019
In February, the non-profit Reclaim the Records obtained court records showing he married a Brazilian woman in 2012. His former wife, who has not been identified, filed for divorce in 2019.
He has since said he is married to a Brazilian man, who he identified by the first name of Matt. He reportedly told the Brazilian publication Piaui in November 2020 that his husband’s name is Matheus Gerard.
Sometime in 2016, he moved to Florida where he worked for HotelsPro, a global hospitality marketplace and changed his driver’s licence to a Florida address.
California Democrat calls for House vote on expelling Santos
‘I know I screwed up, but I want to pay'
Citing court documents, the New York Times reported that Mr Santos told police in 2010 that he and his mother had stolen a chequebook from a man that she used to work for, and used it to make $1,300 in illegal purchases of clothes and shoes.
He reportedly admitted the illicit activity in a post on a Brazilian social media site in 2011, saying “I know I screwed up, but I want to pay”, The Times reported.
The criminal case ground to a halt in 2011 after Mr Santos could not be located by Brazilian authorities, as he had returned to the US.
He later denied that he was a criminal “in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world” in an interview with the New York Post.
In March, Mr Santos admitted the crime and agreed to pay the victim back as part of a non-prosecution agreement with Brazilian prosecutors, CNN reported.
On the campaign trail, Mr Santos repeatedly claimed that he is of Jewish descent and that his grandparents were European Jews who fled Hitler.
Jewish cultural groups and online sleuths later unearthed records showing his grandparents were born in Brazil.
Mr Santos would later tell the New York Post that he had said he was “Jew-ish”.
George Santos wildly claims his arrest is linked to his support of jailed Chinese billionaire Miles Guo
George Santos has bizarrely claimed that his arrest on federal charges is linked to his support for the Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Guo.
In a fundraising appeal, Mr Santos tweeted: “I asked questions about #MilesGuo & the DOJ indicts me 5 days later! The fight is real & I’m OVER the target, I need your support to keep me fighting for freedom. #MAGA #TrumpWasRightAboutEverything #StopTheCCP #freeMilesGuo.”
“Chip in today!” he added.
Mr Guo, a self-exiled Chinese businessman and close ally of Steve Bannon, was arrested by US authorities in March on charges for fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors claim he “led a complex conspiracy to defraud thousands of his online followers out of over $1 billion dollars”.
Mr Guo has received vocal support from Mr Santos, who himself was arrested on 13 federal charges on Wednesday, including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to the House of Representatives.
The New York Republican held a heated press conference after exiting his arraignment at the federal courthouse on Long Island, calling the probe a “witch hunt”.
Read more:
George Santos wildly claims arrest is linked to his support of Chinese billionaire
‘I asked questions about #MilesGuo & the DOJ indicts me 5 days later!’ Santos says in Twitter fundraising appeal after his arrest
Santos called ‘bizarre, unprincipled and sketchy’ ahead of election win
An opposition research file on Mr Santos produced by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee found that elements of his biography had been fabricated and required further research, a Times investigation found.
Mr Zimmerman later said he didn’t have sufficient resources for this, and focussed his attention on voter outreach.
The North Shore Leader, a weekly news publication based in the affluent Long Island neighbourhood in the 3rd District, was the only media organisation to report on discrepancies in Mr Santos’ financial disclosure forms.
In September 2022, it reported that Mr Santos’ net wealth had risen from essentially zero, and with an annual salary of $55,000 in 2020, to $11m in assets just two years later.
The news site endorsed Mr Zimmerman, stating that his opponent “is so bizarre, unprincipled and sketchy that we cannot ... he’s most likely just a fabulist – a fake”.
Mr Santos went on to take the district that November by eight points.
George Santos voting on employment fraud bill after being arrested for it
The embattled congressman returned to the Capitol on Thursday following his arrest a day earlier for unemployment fraud – just in time to vote on a bill dealing with that exact topic.
It was a perfectly scripted moment to cap off a wild two-day media circus around his indicment in New York on 13 criminal counts.
Bevan Hurley has the full story.
George Santos voting on employment fraud bill – 24 hours after being arrested for it
New York congressman faces calls for his resignation and dwindling support in GOP
George Santos inks deal to avoid prosecution in Brazil over bad checks
Also yesterday, George Santo signed an agreement with public prosecutors in Brazil to avoid prosecution for forging two stolen checks in 2008.
“What would have been the start of a case was ended today,” his lawyer in Brazil, Jonymar Vasconcelos, told The Associated Press in a text message.
“As such, my client is no longer the subject of any case in Brazil.”
George Santos inks deal to avoid prosecution in Brazil over bad checks
New York Rep. George Santos has signed an agreement with public prosecutors in Brazil to avoid prosecution for forging two stolen checks in 2008
House Ethics Committee report finds ‘substantial’ evidence that George Santos broke federal laws
The House Ethics Committee said that it found what it considered “substantial evidence” in its report on Rep George Santos (R-NY) that the embattled freshman Republican broke federal laws in a report it released Thursday morning.
The House Ethics Committee--a bipartisan committee made up of equal members from both parties--released its report on Thursday after a months-long investigation into Mr Santos.
In a press statement on the report, the committee alleged that Mr Santos “knowingly” caused his campaign committee to file false and incomplete reports to the Federal Election Commission; used campaign cash for personal expenses; engaged in fraudulent conduct with Redstone Strategies, a company he co-owned; and committed “knowing and willful violations” of the “Ethics in Government Act.”
“In light of the ongoing criminal investigation into Representative Santos, and the ISC’s findings of additional uncharged and unlawful conduct by Representative Santos, the [Investigative Subcommittee] recommended that the Committee immediately refer these allegations to the Department of Justice,” the committee said in a statement.
The House Ethics Committee had launched its investigation into Mr Santos earlier this year into whether he engaged in illegal activity during his 2022 congressional campaign. In May, the committee expanded its investigation.
George Santos won’t seek re-election after damning ethics report
Republican New York Representative George Santos has announced that he won’t seek re-election in 2024 following the release of a damning ethics report.
The freshman congressman made the revelation to Semafor on Thursday.
In a lengthy statement on X, Mr Santos wrote that wouldn’t be seeking “a second term in 2024 as my family deserves better than to be under the gun from the press all the time”.
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