By Mark Morales, Evan Perez and Gregory Krieg | CNN
Federal prosecutors have filed felony expenses towards New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing sample of lies and fabrications shocked even hardened politicos, in keeping with three sources acquainted with the matter.
Santos is anticipated to seem as quickly as Wednesday at federal court docket in New York’s jap district, the place the costs have been filed below seal.
The precise nature of the costs couldn’t instantly be discovered however the FBI and the Justice Division public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been inspecting allegations of false statements in Santos’ marketing campaign finance filings and different claims.
The congressman’s legal professional declined to remark. Spokespeople for the Brooklyn US Legal professional’s Workplace, the Justice Division and the FBI declined to remark.
The freshman congressman, who was elected final yr to signify a district that features elements of Lengthy Island and Queens, has been below investigation in a number of jurisdictions and by the Home Ethics Committee.
Prime Democrats, joined by some New York Republicans, have been calling on Santos to resign over allegations starting from felony habits on the marketing campaign path to petty private dishonesty stretching again greater than a decade.
Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy stated he'll have a look at the costs earlier than figuring out if he thinks Santos ought to be faraway from Congress.
“I’ll have a look at the costs,” the California Republican advised CNN on Tuesday.
Throughout his transient time in workplace, Santos has been accused of breaking marketing campaign finance legal guidelines, violating federal battle of curiosity legal guidelines, stealing money meant for an Iraq Warfare veteran’s dying canine, masterminding a bank card fraud scheme and mendacity about the place he went to highschool and labored.
Santos has admitted to creating some deceptive claims about his training and monetary standing, however continues to disclaim the extra critical allegations.
Throughout his victorious marketing campaign final yr, Santos ran in keeping with the Republican midterm playbook, hammering his Democratic opponent over crime and inflation. The message resonated within the New York suburbs, the place GOP candidates flipped 4 seats on their method to successful a slender Home majority.
However as Santos’ previous got here below nearer scrutiny, with giant chunks of his official biography revealed to be conjured from nothing, he more and more tailored the persona of a right-wing troll.
He performed up his help for former President Donald Trump and as soon as claimed that Democrats have been “making an attempt to ban bathroom paper.”
New York Republicans have sought to distance themselves from Santos, repeatedly urging him to go away workplace and insisting they knew nothing about his shadowy previous. Democrats, in the meantime, are trying to shake off the embarrassment of not exposing Santos sooner forward of what guarantees to be an costly race to win again his and different neighboring seats in 2024.
The cracks in Santos’ façade first made nationwide headlines in late December 2022, when The New York Occasions printed a protracted investigation that questioned giant chunks of the private story he offered to voters throughout the marketing campaign. What adopted, although, was typically stranger than fiction. A seemingly infinite string of latest revelations starting from allegations he stole a canine from an Amish dairy farmer to his personal previous claims — all false — of taking part in high-level school volleyball.
Because the tales piled up, former pals and related of Santos started to come back ahead and share tales claiming he had ripped them off or misled them about his monetary and professional scenario. A former roommate of the congressman advised CNN earlier this yr that Santos confirmed indicators of “delusions of grandeur” throughout their time dwelling collectively.
“The reality has lastly come out,” stated Gregory Morey-Parker, who additionally accused Santos of stealing his scarf. An allegation, like so many others, that Santos denies.
Can stay in Congress
The fees don't, from a authorized standpoint, have an effect on Santos’ standing as a member of Congress. Nothing within the Structure’s necessities for congressional workplace bars people below felony indictment or conviction from serving, aside from the 14th Modification prohibitions for sure treasonous conduct dedicated after a member has taken the oath of workplace.
Beneath the formal guidelines for the US Home of Representatives, in keeping with a Congressional Analysis Service report, “an indicted Member might proceed to take part in congressional proceedings and issues.”
Nonetheless, if a member is convicted of a criminal offense that would end in a punishment of two or extra years in jail, they're instructed below Home guidelines to not take part in votes on the ground or in committee votes.