George Santos back in court for hearing on Long Island. Here's the latest on his fraud trial.
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. -- Disgraced former Congressman George Santos appeared for a pre-trial hearing in federal court on Long Island on Tuesday.
Santos faces nearly two dozen charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft, and lying to the U.S. House of Representatives. He pleaded not guilty and is free on a $500,000 bond.
His trial was scheduled to start on Sept. 9 but has been pushed back to Sept. 16. It is expected to last four weeks and will include three dozen prosecution witnesses.
If convicted, Santos faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Feds want campaign lies submitted as evidence
The prosecution asked to submit his campaign lies as evidence, saying he "deliberately leveraged them to perpetuate the criminal schemes."
The lies include:
- Graduating from Baruch College and New York University
- Being an accomplished college volleyball player
- Having grandparents who survived the Holocaust
- Working at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs
- Fabricating his family wealth
- Stealing from campaign contributors
Prosecutors also petitioned the judge to allow statements from Santos' former campaign manager, Nancy Marks, who pleaded guilty last year to falsifying campaign finance reports. They also asked the judge to block Santos from claiming at trial he's the victim of vindictive prosecution, and that he's already been punished enough. The judge said she'll decide those issues as they come up at trial.
Prosecutors also claimed Santos' lawyers may be withholding evidence. The defense turned over roughly 400 pages of documents, compared to prosecutors' 1.3 million pages.
Defense asks for partially anonymous jury
Meanwhile, Santos' defense team asked for a partially anonymous jury, citing the "extensive and largely negative media coverage," and adding, "jurors could face harassment or intimidation." The judge agreed.
Next month, 348 prospective jurors -- whittled down from 850 -- will report for the selection of 12, along with six alternates. The defense wanted each and every one to fill out a 137-item jury questionnaire. The judge dismissed the questionnaire, calling it offensive, and said she favors one-on-one questioning.
Santos back in court by his former district
Santos was expelled from Congress last December, becoming the sixth member to be voted out in more than 20 years. After being ousted, he continued to make headlines on Cameo and in a viral interview with Ziwe.
Santos has said he plans to run again as an independent, challenging Republican Nick LaLota in New York's 1st Congressional District. Santos previously held the seat in New York's 3rd Congressional District, which has since been filled by Democrat Tom Suozzi.
