Rep. Santos Facing 13 Federal Charges

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Facts

  • US Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) on Wednesday was arrested on 13 federal charges — 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 US House of Representatives.1
  • According to the Justice Department (DOJ), Santos transferred money from political donors to pay for personal expenses, applied for and received $24K in unemployment benefits even though he was employed at the time, and lied to the House about his financial condition.2
  • Santos previously gained national recognition for fabricating parts of his resume and personal history — including lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street background, college degrees, and a career as a star collegiate volleyball player.3
  • Santos pled not guilty at a Long Island, N.Y. courthouse and was released on a $500K bond. He had to revoke his passport and submit to monitoring, and his travel outside of N.Y. and Washington, D.C. must be approved by the court.4
  • In February, Santos stepped down from two House committees, claiming he did not want his presence to be a "distraction.”5
  • House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he will review the charges before determining if Santos should be removed from Congress.6

Sources: 1Wall Street Journal, 2USA Today, 3PBS NewsHour, 4NBC, 5BBC News, and 6CNN.

Narratives

  • Democratic narrative, as provided by MSNBC. Don’t expect Santos, whose term was already off to the worst start in Congressional history, to face any political consequences. Republicans decided it was more important to preserve their narrow majority in the House than to hold him accountable when Santos was initially exposed as a habitual liar, so it’s unlikely they’ll take a stand against him now that he’s facing criminal charges. Very sadly, the GOP puts power before morals and Santos will likely still be in power.
  • Republican narrative, as provided by Townhall. Santos might have his faults, but he’s no different than corrupt Democrats who serve alongside him in Congress. The federal government has had it in for Santos from Day 1, and it seems the FBI had someone from his office ratting him out. Santos is entitled to due process, and if he’s convicted Republicans will follow a thoughtful process. This should not turn into a political witch hunt.