George Santos news latest: New York Republican tells reporter federal charges are ‘news to me’

Tuesday saw two high-profile New York Republicans face serious charges in court.

Earlier in the day, Donald Trump was found liable for sexually abusing writer E Jean Carroll.

Then, freshman congressman George Santos was hit with federal charges, possibly related to his campaign finances.

The New York representative previously faced intense backlash for his false claim of Jewish heritage.

Earlier this year, Democrats in New York criticized the GOP representative after he took to the House floor to deliver a speech marking Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The embattled Republican congressman paid tribute to the victims and survivors of the Nazi-era genocide and condemned antisemitism.

Andrew Feinberg there is a story.

Embattled New York Representative George Santos reached an agreement to settle a year-long criminal case against him in Brazil earlier this year, according to a report from CNN.

Mr Santos has reportedly reached an agreement with Brazilian prosecutors, in which he will formally confess to a fraud investigation and pay restitution.

The freshman GOP lawmaker was accused of stealing a checkbook from an elderly man his mother cared for in 2010. He later admitted to forging checks from the checkbook to buy items, including clothing and shoes.

A petition from his Brazilian lawyer asked to arrange a non-prosecution agreement, citing Mr Santos’ work as a US lawmaker and calling him “re-socialized”.

Andrew Feinberg have details for The Independent.

US Rep. George Santos filed papers earlier this year indicating his intention to run for re-election, even as he faces calls to resign amid ongoing criminal and ethics investigations which he said while running for office.

The Federal Election Commission filing does not mean Santos will run for a second term, but it allows his campaign committees to continue raising money, some of which could be used to pay future legal bills. The money he raised could also be used to pay back more than $700,000 he admitted to lending to his campaign.

Get all the details in our full story.

Richard Osthoff said he was contacted by two federal agents on Wednesday for the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, according to POLITICO.

Graeme Massie there is a story.

The Independent has been following the remarkable career of George Santos since the beginning.

Earlier this year, Richard Hall travels to New York’s Republican district to find the real man behind the outlandish lies.

Watch “The Imposter in Congress” below.

Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against George Santos, the Republican congressman whose campaign was filled with lies about his past.

Mr Santos is expected to appear on Wednesday in a federal court in the Eastern District of New York, where the charges were filed, the network reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. CNN first reported the charges against Mr Santos. Several news organizations confirmed the report, including the Associated Press, NBC News and The Wall Street Journal.

The exact charges have not been revealed, but Mr Santos is reportedly being investigated by the Justice Department for his campaign finances.

The accusations represent a rapid rise and fall for a man judged by his own constituents to be an “impostor.”

Richard Hall reports for The Independent.

Not surprisingly, Capitol Hill Democrats from the New York delegation renewed their calls for George Santos to resign from Congress, after the Long Island Republican was reportedly indicted on federal crimes on Tuesday.

“I believe that Representative Santos should have resigned before he was sworn in,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CBS News. “I think the pattern of dishonesty here is pretty clear”

“Now that Santos has been indicted, it is Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s duty to remove Santos’ stain on this sacred institution by removing him from Congress immediately,” added Rep. Dan Goldman in an interview with the network. “We can’t wait any longer.”

House Leadership really wants that to happen.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told CNN he will ask his fellow Republicans to vacate his seat if he is convicted on federal charges.

“Like we had with Jeff Fortenberry, he had the same ability, I removed him from the committees, but he was found guilty and then I told him he had to resign,” the GOP leader said. . “That’s my policy and principles on this.”

Fortenberry, a former Nebraska representative, resigned in 2022 after being convicted of lying to federal officials about an illegal $30,000 foreign contribution to his campaign.

George Santos has admitted to some lies, such as falsely claiming Jewish ancestry, and the federal charges reportedly filed against him on Tuesday could answer another big question mark over his background: How did he get all the money?

Between 2014 and 2017, the New York Republican was the subject of three eviction proceedings in Queens for unpaid rent.

In a 2020 financial document, he listed an annual income of $55,000.

Just a few years ago, when he ran for Congress, Mr Santos appeared to be running out of money.

He claimed his company, the Devolder Organization, paid him a $750,000 salary in each of the past two years, as well as another $1m to $5m in dividends, according to the AP.

Not bad for a company incorporated in 2021.

The apparent windfall caught the eye of investigators when Mr. Santos loaned his campaign and political action committee more than $750,000.