Why the Justice Department filed criminal charges against George Santos
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The Justice Department has filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, several sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
The Republican lawmaker, who has lied about his background, his education and work experience, being Jewish and more, surrendered to authorities at a federal court in New York Wednesday morning, The New York Times reported.
Santos is expected to appear before a judge Wednesday.
What are the charges against George Santos?
The Times reported that Santos has been charged on 13 total counts:
Seven counts of wire fraud.
Three counts of money laundering.
One count of theft of public funds.
Two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
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How did George Santos react?
In a phone call with The Associated Press Tuesday, Santos told reporters, “This is news to me.”
“You’re the first to call me about this,” he said.
How did other politicians react?
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy responded to questions about whether he would push for Santos to resign by stating that he would wait for a conviction.
“Just like we had before with Jeff Fortenberry ... he was found guilty and then I told him he needed to resign,” McCarthy stated, per Axios.
Meanwhile, several Democrats have called for Santos’ resignation, including Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., who told Axios, “We are waiting to see the charges, but we all knew this was where things were heading. The sooner he leaves, the sooner we can win the seat with someone who isn’t a liar.”
