Rep George Santos Arrested, Charged With Wire Fraud, Money Laundering, Theft Of Public Funds And Lying
Update (0940ET): Santos surrendered himself to authorities on Wednesday and is currently in custody at a federal courthouse, the NYT reports.
He's been hit with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public goods and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
The decision by federal prosecutors to take action against Mr. Santos marked a precipitous turn in the fortunes of a first-term congressman who went from a symbol of Republican resurgence to a scandal-plagued political punching bag.
Mr. Santos has been besieged by questions about his background, his personal wealth and his campaign finances since last December, when The New York Times and other outlets began reporting on numerous lies about his biography, education and work history that he had told voters on the campaign trial. -NYT
Santos has denied any criminal wrongdoing.
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Federal prosecutors have filed charges against first-term New York Rep. George Santos, who's infamous for having stacked up lie upon lie about his personal history, and for allegations of financial misconduct prior to taking office. Citing "three sources familiar with the matter," CNN was first to report this development on Tuesday.
Despite House votes on the schedule for Tuesday evening, Santos was on his way to New York, and reporters observed four of his staffers abruptly departing his congressional office with their bags. So far, Santos, his representatives and the Justice Department have all declined requests for comment. He may appear in federal court in the Eastern District of New York as early as Wednesday.
It's not clear what crimes Santos will be charged with, in part because there's so much on the menu:
"During his brief time in office, Santos has been accused of breaking campaign finance laws, violating federal conflict of interest laws, stealing cash meant for an Iraq War veteran’s dying dog, masterminding a credit card fraud scheme and lying about where he went to school and worked." - CNN
The House ethics committee has been probing Santos's financial disclosure forms, whether he violated conflict-of-interest laws or otherwise broke laws associated with his congressional campaign in which he scored a mild upset to represent parts of Long Island and Queens.
In December, the New York Times published a damning exposé revealing that Santos had apparently fabricated his life story. After the initial report, even more falsehoods came to light. His seeming lies include:
- Claiming he earned degrees in economics and finance from Baruch College and New York University.
- Claiming he became "an associate asset manager" in Citigroup's real estate division
- Claiming he worked at Goldman Sachs
- Saying he was founder and leader of a "Friends of Pets United," a supposed tax-exempt organization.
- Claiming his family owns a 13-property real estate portfolio
- Denying he'd been a drag queen
- Calling himself "a proud American Jew"
The openly gay Santos even claimed his company "lost four employees" in the June 2016 mass shooting at the gay Pulse nightclub. He didn't specify the company, and the Times couldn't find any overlap between profiles of the 49 dead at the bar and any of the companies Santos claimed to have worked for.
Probing his past in Brazil, the Times also unearthed criminal charges against Santos -- and a confession -- over an incident in which "he stole the checkbook of a man his mother was caring for."
