Serial liar George Santos pleads GUILTY in stunning reversal after slew of campaign fraud charges

Disgraced former Congressman George Santos pleaded guilty to two counts of campaign fraud after months of denying wrongdoing, cementing his reputation as the “Long Island Liar.”

Santos pleaded guilty in New York court Thursday to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and faces up to 22 years in prison, but is expected to serve six to eight years. Under the plea agreement, the former congressman must also pay at least $373,749.97 in restitution and forfeit more than $200,000.

Santos was removed from his seat in the House of Representatives on Long Island after it emerged that many of the claims he made to voters in 2022 about his life and good faith were completely fabricated, including claims that he worked on Wall Street and studied at New York University.

He is also accused of using political donations to fuel his lavish spending on Botox, designer clothes, casino vacations and OnlyFans income.

After being impeached in December, he was replaced in a midterm election by Democrat Tom Suozzi, giving Republicans an even slimmer majority.

He had previously pleaded guilty in federal court to 23 charges, including identity fraud, charging his donors’ credit cards without their permission and filing false campaign reports.

But on Monday, all that fell apart in court, when he threw in the towel and admitted to abusing his power and embezzling funds.

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 over the weekend multiple news sources reported that he planned to plead guilty on Monday, citing sources close to him.

He admitted at Monday’s hearing that he was claiming unemployment benefits and that he had applied for benefits he was not entitled to.

Santos also said he made false statements — including omissions — in the 2022 financial statements he provided to the House Ethics Committee.

The former congressman further admitted that he committed fraud between September and October 2022.

He specifically stated that the money was being used for TV campaign commercials, but instead he used it for personal items.

His case was scheduled to go to trial on September 9 and Santos reiterated his innocence during a hearing on Tuesday.

But now he is avoiding trial and is expected to hear his sentence on February 7.

U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York praised Santos for “telling the truth about his criminal plans for the first time since he began his campaign for Congress.”

“He admitted to lying, stealing and defrauding people. By pleading guilty, Mr. Santos has acknowledged that he repeatedly defrauded federal and state agencies, as well as his own family, supporters and constituents,” he continued.

Peace added that his “flagrant and disgraceful conduct has come to light” and he will be punished accordingly.

The prosecution had called more than 30 witnesses and handed over 1.3 million pages of evidence to the court. 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.

Disgraced former Congressman George Santos is expected to plead guilty to campaign fraud charges after months of denying them

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 Long Island congressman claimed on X.

Santos arrived at the court earlier today to enter his new plea

Protesters held signs in the background as Santos entered the court wearing Ray Ban sunglasses

“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’ return bid for 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.