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Rep. George Santos, the embattled freshman Republican known for fabricating large portions of his resume, was charged Tuesday on 10 new criminal counts, including conspiracy, falsification of records, aggravated identity theft and credit card fraud.
Federal prosecutors filed a 23-count superseding indictment that comes after Santos pleaded not guilty to 13 charges from the Justice Department in May, which included fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements.
“As alleged, Santos is charged with stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign,” said U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, in a statement. “Santos allegedly led multiple additional fraudulent criminal schemes, lying to the American public in the process.”
The New York Republican has been embroiled in scandal since he took office and has admitted to fabricating elements of his resume months ago. Since then, he’s faced numerous calls from across the political spectrum to step down.
Although Santos has repeatedly rebuked the calls for his resignation from the chamber, he stepped down from his committee assignments earlier this year. Still, Santos announced he would seek reelection to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District in 2024.
Meanwhile, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has refused to step in, deferring to the Ethics Committee, where a complaint has been filed against Santos for “failure to file timely, accurate and complete financial disclosure reports.” The Ethics Committee has since expanded their investigation, after the Justice Department filed its initial charges. And although McCarthy had pledged to remove Santos should the committee determine he had broken a law, after his ouster as speaker, the future is uncertain.
Santos, who was arrested in May on the 13 initial charges, is due back in federal court in New York on Oct. 27.
