Republican representative George Santos was arrested on Wednesday on federal charges related to campaign fraud.
On Tuesday, it was announced that the controversial New York congressman would face federal charges. Initially, the specifics were unclear since Santos was the subject of multiple investigations stemming from his finances and shameless lies about his background.
But, on Wednesday, U.S Attorney Breon Peace made it clear that the indictment sought to hold Santos “accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations.” Santos was indicted on 13 counts, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives, and one count of theft of public funds.
Throughout his time in the spotlight, Santos claimed his mother died due to 9/11-related cancer. However, it was later learned that she was not in the United States at the time of the attacks. Lies such as these are part of the reasons his colleagues and the public have called for him to resign. However, the mounting scandals had not swayed Santos from announcing his 2024 re-election campaign just weeks ago.
In addition to that, a federal probe into Santos arose in December. Sources close to the case announced that they were looking into how Santos was able to loan his campaign $700,000 after claiming he was only making $55,000 annually. “Numerous inconsistencies” led to this investigation. Santos also admitted to lying about “embellishing” his resume in a separate incident.
“Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself,” Peace said.
The rep was scheduled to appear in a Long Island federal court on Wednesday. However, he was arrested ahead of this appearance. Santos has not publicly commented on his recent legal troubles. He is currently being held at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, New York.
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