former rep. may plead responsible Monday – NBC New York
The fraud trial in opposition to former U.S. Rep. George Santos could also be on pause, as sources accustomed to the case now say the Lengthy Island politician is anticipated to plead responsible on Monday.
A listening to for the deliberate responsible plea has been scheduled for 3 p.m. in federal courtroom, based on two sources accustomed to 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 spread of economic crimes, together with mendacity to Congress about his wealth, accumulating unemployment advantages whereas really working, and utilizing marketing campaign contributions to pay for private bills equivalent to designer clothes.
Santos is anticipated to plead responsible to a number of counts within the indictment.
In courtroom, Santos’ legal professionals have pushed again at claims prosecutors made in prior authorized filings that they’re not taking part absolutely 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 will not 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 intensive destructive media protection surrounding Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December after an ethics investigation discovered “overwhelming proof” he had damaged the legislation and exploited his public place for his personal revenue.
They cited greater than 1,500 articles by main information shops and a “Saturday Evening Reside” skit about Santos. Additionally they famous comparable questionnaires have been utilized in different high-profile federal circumstances 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 temporary, 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 be “largely a product of his personal making” as he’s spent months “courting the press and ginning up” media consideration.
Choose Joanna Seybert on Tuesday granted Santos’ request for {a partially} nameless jury during which the person jurors’ identities might 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.
Legal professionals for the federal government are additionally searching for to confess as proof among the lies Santos made throughout his marketing campaign. Earlier than he was elected in 2022 to characterize components of Queens and Lengthy Island, he made false claims that he graduated from each New York College and Baruch School and that he had labored at monetary giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.
Prosecutors argue that the wholesale fabrications are “inextricably intertwined” with the legal prices he faces.
Final month, the federal choose turned down Santos’ request to dismiss three of the 23 prices he faces. Santos dropped a long-shot bid to return to Congress as an impartial in April.
