The Justice Department hit Republican Rep. George Santos of New York with a 23-count superseding indictment Tuesday on fraud and conspiracy charges.
Santos is accused of conspiring to steal credit card data from donors to his congressional campaign and making charges without authorization, according to court documents and a release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. “Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in the release.
“Santos allegedly led multiple additional fraudulent criminal schemes, lying to the American public in the process. The FBI is committed to upholding the laws of our electoral process. Anyone who attempts to violate the law as part of a political campaign will face punishment in the criminal justice system,” James Smith, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York Field Office, said.
Santos entered a plea of not guilty on May 10 to a 13-count indictment on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy, making false statements to the House of Representatives and theft of public funds. He is also facing potential charges in Brazil for allegedly writing bad checks.
A resolution to expel Santos from the House of Representatives was referred to the House Ethics Committee on May 17 in a party-line vote.
Santos didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Harold Hutchison on October 10, 2023
wpDiscuz