Representative George Santos enters a plea of not guilty for his most recent federal charges.
Next week, there may be a vote in Congress to expel Representative George Santos at 02:18.
charges filed against him
Rep. George Santos, a Republican from New York, entered a plea of not guilty on Friday for the new set of charges brought against him. additional federal charges
He is being accused of identity theft from his campaign donors and making unauthorized charges on their credit cards, resulting in thousands of dollars in charges.
Santos made an appearance at the U.S. District Court in Central Islip, New York, but declined to speak to the media.
The U.S. attorney’s office has scheduled his trial for September 9.
The treasurer of the campaign has confessed to conspiring to deceive the United States by acknowledging that the financial reports for Santos’ campaign contained falsified loans and donors.
The latest accusation claims that Santos unlawfully utilized the credit cards of his campaign contributors for his own personal gain and to support his campaign, without permission.
According to the indictment, Santos is accused of repeatedly using a donor’s credit card without their consent, charging a total of $15,800 to his campaign and affiliated political groups. The prosecution also claims that in the subsequent months, Santos attempted to make unauthorized charges totaling $44,800 using the same donor’s information. The indictment states that some of the funds were then transferred to Santos’ personal bank account.
The prosecution claimed that Santos and his ex-treasurer, Nancy Marks, conspired to manipulate his campaign financial statements in order to meet fundraising goals and promote his campaign. They are also accused of providing false information about a supposed $500,000 loan from Santos to his campaign.
“What is my motivation for causing harm to those who went above and beyond to help me reach this point?” – Santos told
Journalists refuting the recent accusations.
The initial charges brought against Santos included wire fraud, money laundering, embezzlement of government funds, and providing false information to the House of Representatives. In total, Santos faces 23 criminal charges.
Santos pleaded not guilty
In May, he responded to the accusations in the initial indictment. He has strongly asserted his innocence and rejected any suggestions for him to step down from his position in Congress.
He stated on social media on Thursday that he has the right to a fair legal process and should not be subject to a preconceived decision, as some are attempting.
former top aides have already agreed to cooperate
As additional accusations have been brought against Santos, several of his previous high-ranking assistants have already made a decision to work together with authorities.,
Fellow Republicans from New York,
They are trying to remove him from Congress following an unsuccessful Democratic effort to do so earlier this year.
filed a bill to limit the amount of
campaign funds that
On Thursday, Representative Anthony D’Esposito introduced a proposal to restrict the maximum allowed sum of money for political campaigns. (
Proposed a measure to remove Santos from the group.
The House has a period of two legislative days to review.
House Democrats attempted to pass a measure earlier this year, but Republicans prevented it from going through. Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy believed that the legal procedure should be followed, so the issue was turned over to the House Ethics Committee for further examination.
This report was contributed by Scott MacFarlane.
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Source: cbsnews.com