Federal charges have been filed against Rep. George Santos

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

He’s quite possibly the biggest dirtbag to ever be elected to national office, which is saying something. Now, according to CNN, Rep. George Santos is facing unspecified federal charges.

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Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Santos is expected to appear as soon as Wednesday at federal court in New York’s eastern district, where the charges have been filed under seal.

The exact nature of the charges couldn’t immediately be learned but the FBI and the Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos’ campaign finance filings and other claims.

The Associated Press seems to be getting the same leaks and surprised Santos with the news.

The people could not publicly discuss specific details of the case until it is unsealed and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity. The unsealing would happen when Santos appears in court, which could come as soon as Wednesday.

Reached on Tuesday, Santos said, “This is news to me.”

“You’re the first to call me about this,” he said in a brief phone interview…

The New York Republican has admitted to lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street background, college degrees and a history as a star volleyball player. Serious questions about his finances also surfaced — including the source of what he claimed was a quickly amassed fortune despite recent financial problems, including evictions and owing thousands of dollars in back rent.

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That list barely scratches the surface of the lies he’s told. For instance, it doesn’t mention his Brazilian fraud case, his 2019 divorce (from a woman) or the uncertainty over where he lives with his husband. Then there were the allegations that he stole money he’d raised through a crowdfunding site on behalf of a dying dog and his time dressing as a woman (but he claimed he wasn’t a drag queen). He was accused of lying about his animal charity and claims he wrote bad checks to Amish dog breeders. In short, he’s a dirtbag.

Speaker McCarthy told CNN “I’ll look at the charges” before deciding whether or not to call on Santos to resign. Other Republicans said they were not surprised.

New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told CNN, “I’m not surprised. I understand this is where it was headed,” but stopped short of asking Santos to resign…

Arkansas Rep. French Hill, who is close to House GOP leadership, said he wanted to see the charges but added, “I do believe that if a member of Congress is charged with a federal crime they should resign.”

Legally, Santos isn’t required to resign just because he’s indicted. So I guess we’ll have to see if the charges look bad enough that Republicans are tired of being associated with him. It sounds like we’ll find out tomorrow. That’s according to NBC News:

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A source with direct knowledge of the matter confirmed to NBC News that Santos, who was spotted in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, is expected to appear at the Long Island Federal Courthouse in Central Islip, N.Y., on Wednesday.

Separately, a congressional source said Santos learned about the charges Tuesday.

So did Santos first learn of this when the AP called to ask him about it or was that a lie too?

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Ed Morrissey 10:00 PM | November 22, 2024
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