Federal prosecutors have reportedly filed criminal charges against Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
According to CNN, which broke the news on Tuesday, Santos is expected to appear in New York federal court as early as Wednesday.
The nature of the charges were not immediately clear as they remain under seal, but CNN’s Evan Perez said federal prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York have been looking into the congressman’s finances, including whether he falsified some of his campaign finance filings.
The Justice Department has filed criminal charges against Rep. George Santos (R-NY), @CNN reports.
The charges are under seal, but federal prosecutors have been investigating whether Santos made false statements in campaign finance filings. pic.twitter.com/7G4cyL0OYL
— The Recount (@therecount) May 9, 2023
A journalist shared that Santos appeared to be unaware of the charges upon being informed about the news.
“Um, I think I just (accidentally) informed Rep. George Santos of reports that he has been charged by the Justice Department… ‘That’s news to me,’ he said a few minutes ago. ‘You’re the first to call me about this,'” Associated Press reporter Farnoush Amiri tweeted early Tuesday evening.
Voters elected Santos, 34, to his first term representing New York’s 3rd Congressional District in the November elections, helping Republicans win a narrow majority in the House.
But increasing scrutiny of Santos led to the freshman congressman admitting that he lied about aspects of his career and personal life, though he insisted to the New York Post in December that he did not plan on backing down.
“I am not a criminal,” Santos said at the time. “This will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”
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Facing multiple investigations as well as calls to resign, even among members of his own party, Santos stepped down from his committee assignments in January. But the Long Island Republican took a defiance stance in the weeks that followed. “Let me be very clear, I’m not leaving, I’m not hiding and I am NOT backing down,” he tweeted in February. Santos filed paperwork for a re-election bid in March and marked 100 days in office with a 2024 announcement in April.
Kellen Curry, an Afghanistan war veteran and former vice president at JPMorgan, announced last month that he would run a GOP campaign seeking the House seat held by Santos.
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