Santos Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ To New Criminal Charges

As expected, truth-challenged gay Rep. George Santos (R-NY) pleaded not guilty today to a slew of new felony charges, including conspiracy, false statements, aggravated identity theft, and credit card fraud. https://twitter.com/NBCNewYork/status/1717931943226909163 Today’s 10 criminal charges were in addition to the 13 filed in May. From NBC New York:

U.S. Rep. George Santos pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Friday on a revised indictment accusing him of several frauds, including making tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges on credit cards belonging to some of his campaign donors.

He had previously pleaded not guilty to other charges, first filed in May, accusing him of lying to Congress about his wealth, applying for and receiving unemployment benefits, even though he had a job, and using campaign contributions to pay for personal expenses like designer clothing.

There was a small group of protestors waiting for Santos outside court, waving signs stating “expel Santos now” and “Santos stole NY.”

Santos has denied any serious wrongdoing, instead placing the blame for any  “irregularities” in his campaign filings on his former treasurer, Nancy Marks, who he claims “went rogue.” Marks told a judge (when she recently pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy) that she had worked with Santos to trick Republican party officials into supporting his 2022 run for office. Among Santos’s other woes – U.S. Rep. Anthony D’Esposito (R-NY), along with four other New York Republicans – U.S. Reps. Nick LaLota, Michael Lawler, Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams – introduced a resolution calling for Santos to be expelled from the House, saying he wasn’t fit to serve his constituents. https://twitter.com/axios/status/1718010819621847185