U.S. Representative George Santos pledged to fight the 13 criminal charges against him after he was indicted by a federal court.
The charges accuse Santos (R-NY) of embezzling campaign funds, fraudulently receiving unemployment benefits, and lying about his finances to the House of Representatives, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
“[It’s a] witch hunt,” Santos told reporters on Wednesday after officially pleading not guilty to all 13 counts, per footage from CNN. He asserted that “it makes no sense” for him to be indicted a mere five months after investigations were launched against him.
“I’m going to fight my battle. I’m going to deliver. I’m going to fight the witch hunt,” he said, per CNN footage. “I’m going to take care of clearing my name, and I look forward to doing that.”
Rep. Santos, the author of the MINAJ Act, was indicted on seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, two counts of making false statements to the House, and one count of theft of public funds.
“I have been complying throughout this entire process,” Santos said, per CNN footage. “Now I’m gonna have to go and fight to defend myself.”
In the aforementioned press release, U.S. Attorney Breon Peace stated that the indictment “seeks to hold Santos accountable for various alleged fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations.”
“The allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself,” Peace continued. “He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives.”
The Republican Party holds a mere nine-seat majority in the House of Representatives, and the Democrat Party maintains control of the Senate.
If Santos were to step down or be expelled from the House, the Republican majority in the lower chamber of Congress would become even slimmer.
Some conservative voices have asserted that the indictments against Santos are merely part of a political scheme to cut down Republican power in the legislature.
“It seems to me a selective prosecution by the liberal establishment to weaken Republicans,” said conservative commentator Michael Knowles in his Thursday podcast.
However, FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Michael Driscoll insisted in the press release that the actions taken against Santos demonstrate that his agency “remains committed to holding all equally accountable under the law.”
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, Santos faced widespread criticism after allegedly fabricating details about his personal life and family history.
For example, his campaign website stated that his “grandparents fled Jewish persecution in Ukraine,” but Santos later told the New York Post that he “never claimed to be Jewish.”
“I am Catholic,” he said. “Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”