Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is in police custody after he was indicted on 13 federal counts including money laundering, wire fraud, and making false statements to the House.
The Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed federal charges against Rep. George Santos and the New York Republican is in custody.
Santos, whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, has been charged on a 13-count indictment, including 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 House of Representatives.
He was taken into custody in Melville on Long Island, where the FBI is housed, a law enforcement source told CNN. From there, he was taken to the courthouse in Central Islip.
The Santos indictment is 2023’s least surprising political story. It was never a matter of if Santos went down, but when.
George Santos has a lot in common with Donald Trump. They are both New York grifters and con artists who appear to have gotten away with their crimes for years until they overstepped and won elective office,
The power and the intensity of the elected official spotlight should never be underestimated. If Trump had never run for president, he would probably still be getting away with crimes.
If Santos had never won a fluke House election, no one would know who he is, and he would still be stealing and robbing people with schemes like fake charities.
George Santos should resign, but he won’t. Santos will keep collecting his salary from taxpayers, and Kevin McCarthy will do nothing to force him out because he needs Santos’s vote.
Rep. Santos will probably end up in federal prison, as justice is finally coming for Republican corruption.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association