Breaking News:
Representative George Santos, the Republican whose pivotal victory in New York was soon followed by revelations that he had falsified his biography on the campaign trail, surrendered to the authorities at federal court on Long Island on Wednesday morning.
Mr. Santos was 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.
According to The New York Times, Santos is getting the full perp treatment. Likely that includes fingerprinting, photographs and a preliminary interview. He will be arraigned at 1pm.
If Santos is convicted of the charges against him, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years on the top count, according to the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York.
Santos has been charged with two counts of lying to the House of Representatives. Both charges are related to two financial disclosure forms he filed as a candidate. In the first, in 2020, prosecutors are accusing Santos of overstating the income he received in one job and failing to disclose his salary from another firm.
In the second charge, federal prosecutors have accused Santos of lying about earning a $750,000 salary and between $1 million and $5 million in dividends from his company, the Devolder Organization. They also say he falsely claimed to have a checking account that held between $100,000 and $250,000; and a savings account with deposits of between $1 and $5 million.
The indictment was handed up on Monday by a federal grand jury in Central Islip and filed under seal, the authorities said. He was arrested Tuesday shortly after 9 a.m. He will be arraigned this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y.
Kevin McCarthy is supporting Santos to the last minute. Despite calls for his resignation, Santos will likely be allowed to remain in Congress while he fights the charges. “In America, you are innocent until proven guilty,” Speaker Kevin McCarthy said yesterday.
