Disgraced former Congressman George Santos is expected to plead guilty to campaign fraud charges after months of denying them.
Santos was removed from his seat in the Long Island House of Representatives after it emerged that most of the claims he made to voters about his life in 2022 were fabricated.
After being ousted in December, he was replaced in a midterm election by Democrat Tom Suozzi, giving Republicans an even slimmer majority.
He pleaded not guilty to 23 charges in federal court, including identity fraud, charging his donors’ credit cards without their permission and filing false campaign reports.
Disgraced former Congressman George Santos is expected to plead guilty to campaign fraud charges after months of denying them
Santos is accused of using political donations to fuel his lavish spending on Botox, designer clothes, casino vacations and OnlyFans earnings.
He is also alleged to have received $24,000 in unemployment benefits despite having a job, to have lied about his income on disclosure forms, and to have fabricated donations to make his campaign look better.
Santos has repeatedly maintained his innocence, but multiple news sources reported Saturday that he planned to plead guilty on Monday, citing sources close to him.
His case was scheduled to go to trial on September 9 and Santos reiterated his innocence during a hearing on Tuesday.
The prosecution called more than 30 witnesses and presented the court with 1.3 million pages of evidence. Santos had five.
The ethics committee concluded that Santos stole campaign contributions to fund an extravagant lifestyle and that the company improperly charged donors’ credit cards at luxury stores.
The stunning dossier also alleges that the congressman reported false loans to his political committees so that donors and party committees would want to give him further contributions.
Santos was found to have misled people into donating money to RedStone Strategies, which was listed in 2022 as a committee that would support his candidacy.
Santos clashed with Congressman Matt Gaetz and made a dramatic appearance during President Biden’s State of the Union address in March
He then transferred the money to his personal account, using funds from Sephora, OnlyFans and a $4,000 purchase from Hermes.
The report also revealed that he spent campaign funds on Botox treatments and lavish trips to Atlantic City with his husband.
Santos abandoned a bid to win back his seat in April, claiming he did not want to split the vote between himself and Nick LaLota to “guarantee” a Democratic victory.
“While Nick and I do not have the same voting record and I am critical of his poor voting record, I do not want to split the ticket and be responsible for turning the House over to the Democrats,” the lying former congressman from Long Island claimed on Twitter.
“It is clear that given the rise of anti-Semitism in our country, we cannot leave the House to the Democrats, as they have a significant problem with anti-Semitism in their ranks,” he continued.
“If the Democrats stay in this race, it’s almost certainly a win for them.”
LaLota responded to the news: ‘Chat GPT translation: He agrees to a settlement.’
Santos’ bid to return to Congress failed to raise any money last month after he announced his candidacy.
Santos pathologically lied about his life and himself when he ran for Congress in 2022. The big stories were only revealed after the election, and he was expelled from Congress last year.
George Santos posted his first few Cameo posts dressed as his drag persona Kitara Ravache in red lipstick, a red feather boa and a brown wig
Documents filed with the Federal Electoral Commission show his campaign committee made no contributions or expenditures.
Santos announced he would run against LaLota after making an impressive appearance during President Biden’s State of the Union address.
He did not qualify for the Republican primary in June, but could still have run as an independent.
Santos tried various ways to pay his legal fees, including asking for $500 for Cameo. That worked for a while, until the price dropped dramatically.
He also ventured into cryptocurrency, claimed he was making a documentary, and joined OnlyFans as an artist.