Source: Tom Williams / Getty
In today’s episode of Republicans Sure Can Pick ’em, Can’t They? New York Rep. George Santos—the man who conned his way into Congress by lying about his educational credentials, his work experience as a Wall Street employee, charities he founded, his race and ethnicity, and much more—is facing 10 new federal charges for allegedly stealing the identities of family members and using donors’ credit cards to spend thousands of dollars on himself.
This comes five months after Santos was charged with 13 counts, accusing him of defrauding his donors and falsely claiming unemployment benefits. Those charges include 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 U.S. House of Representatives. These alleged crimes are similar to what the GOP rep who capped his way to the Capitol faces in Tuesday’s indictment.
From the Washington Post:
Santos, 35, faces 10 additional charges, according to the indictment:one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission, two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft, and one count of access device fraud.
The new charges were filed just days after Nancy Marks, the treasurer for the Santos campaign, pleaded guiltyto fraud conspiracy and implicated Santos in a scheme to embellish his campaign finance reports with a fake loan and fake donors.
Santos didn’t say much to reporters at the U.S. Capitol Tuesday after the charges were announced, but he did say, as he has before, that he will not resign from the position he worked so hard lying on his resume to get.
From NPR:
He has acknowledged lying to the public about much of his personal story, fabricating his education, inventing a story about family members who escaped the Holocaust and deceiving voters about his professional career.
Santos remains a member in full standing of the Republican caucus, though he’s been stripped of his committee assignments.
Santos has denied any criminal wrongdoing, and pleaded not guilty in May to the original charges. He was released on a $500,000 bond. He also faces a House ethics probe but announced he’s running for re-election next year.
As for the new charges, Santos is due back in federal court on Oct. 27.
