The fraud trial towards former U.S. Rep. George Santos could also be on pause, as sources acquainted with the case now say the Lengthy Island politician is predicted to plead responsible on Monday.
A listening to for the deliberate responsible plea has been scheduled for 3 p.m. in federal courtroom, in keeping with two sources acquainted with the matter inform Information 4.
Santos’ lawyer didn’t return requests for remark, and spokespersons for the FBI and U.S. lawyer’s workplace declined to remark.
The previous congressman had pleaded not responsible to a variety of economic crimes, together with mendacity to Congress about his wealth, gathering unemployment advantages whereas really working, and utilizing marketing campaign contributions to pay for private bills equivalent to designer clothes.
Santos is predicted to plead responsible to a number of counts within the indictment, as first reported by TPM.
In courtroom, Santos’ legal professionals have pushed again at claims prosecutors made in prior authorized filings that they’re not taking part totally within the required pretrial document-sharing course of often known as discovery.
Prosecutors this month stated they’ve turned over greater than 1.3 million pages of information, whereas protection legal professionals have produced simply 5 pages. However when pressed by the choose, Santos’ legal professionals maintained that they’ve turned over each doc of their possession.
“We’re not stonewalling,” stated Joe Murray, a lawyer for Santos. “Trial by ambush shouldn’t be how I function.”
The New York Republican’s legal professionals had argued in current courtroom filings {that a} questionnaire addressing potential jurors’ “information, beliefs, and preconceptions” was wanted due to the in depth unfavorable media protection surrounding Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December after an ethics investigation discovered “overwhelming proof” he had damaged the regulation and exploited his public place for his personal revenue.
They cited greater than 1,500 articles by main information retailers and a “Saturday Night time Stay” skit about Santos. In addition they famous related questionnaires had been utilized in different high-profile federal instances in New York, together with the trial of infamous drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.
“For all intents and functions, Santos has already been discovered responsible within the courtroom of public opinion,” learn the protection memo filed final week.
However prosecutors, voicing their opposition in a authorized transient, argued Santos’ request was merely a delay tactic, because the trial date was set greater than 9 months in the past and a few 850 potential jurors have already been summoned.
The general public notion of Santos, they argued, can also be “largely a product of his personal making” as he’s spent months “courting the press and ginning up” media consideration.
Decide Joanna Seybert on Tuesday granted Santos’ request for {a partially} nameless jury by which the person jurors’ identities will likely be recognized solely by the choose, the 2 sides and their attorneys. Prosecutors had beforehand stated they did not object to the measure, given the case’s high-profile nature.
Attorneys for the federal government are additionally looking for to confess as proof a number of the lies Santos made throughout his marketing campaign. Earlier than he was elected in 2022 to signify components of Queens and Lengthy Island, he made false claims that he graduated from each New York College and Baruch Faculty and that he had labored at monetary giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
Prosecutors argue that the wholesale fabrications are “inextricably intertwined” with the felony expenses he faces.
Final month, the federal choose turned down Santos’ request to dismiss three of the 23 expenses he faces. Santos dropped a long-shot bid to return to Congress as an unbiased in April.
