George Santos Appears in Federal Court Ahead of Looming Trial

Facts

• Recently expelled US Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) appeared in federal court on Tuesday for a brief status conference ahead of his pending trial. He faces 23 charges related to allegedly stealing the identities of donors and fraudulently using their credit cards to spend thousands of dollars.¹
• Santos spent just a few minutes in the courtroom, where US District Judge Joanna Seybert said he’s making 'great progress' in getting the case ready for his trial set for September. She added that the schedule grants him time to potentially strike a plea deal with federal prosecutors.²
• Two new attorneys, Robert Fantone Jr. and Andrew Mancilla, joined Santos' legal team led by Joseph Murray, with the former congressman telling Judge Seybert that he wanted more time to negotiate a plea deal. She noted that a deal is possible between now and Santos’ next appearance on Aug. 13.³
• In December, Santos, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, became just the sixth US congressman to be expelled from the legislature.⁴
• Reporters flocked to the politician, asking him questions about his current occupation and his opinion on the election to fill his vacated seat. Santos declined to talk about his current activities while noting that he wouldn't vote in the Feb. 13 special election.⁵
• In a shot at Republican nominee Mazi Pilip, a registered Democrat, Santos said: 'I'm not voting. I'm not interested. I don't vote for Democrats.' The former congressman also told reporters that he misses his time on Capitol Hill.⁶

Sources: ¹CNN, ²ABC7 New York, ³UPI, ⁴FOX 5 New York, ⁵Associated Press and ⁶CBS.

Narratives

• Democratic narrative, as provided by The New York Times. If there’s anything George Santos is good for, it's trying to be the star of the show — something he tried to do again at his pre-trial conference. Amid all of the terrible accusations against him and the fact that his own party voted to expel him, Santos continues to have no shame. While some Republicans have rightfully called out Santos’ rampant corruption, other right-wingers have embraced the serial liar. Santos is doing himself no favors as he tries to prolong his 15 minutes of fame.
• Republican narrative, as provided by New York Post. George Santos was expelled from Congress in a bipartisan vote nearly two months ago, and he's on his own in this legal battle. Everyone should know Santos’ eccentric personality by now, and his antics don't have much impact anymore. Unfortunately, the former Republican representative won’t vote for his own party to maintain control of his former seat, but the GOP is focused on more important things than George Santos’ drama.

Predictions