13-count indictment, surrendering to federal courthouse in New York: George Anthony Devolder Santos (*nb: more deadlock for Debt Ceiling)

Without Santos, McCarthy can’t pass his debt ceiling bill.

Farnoush Amiri, AP senior reporter for Congress desk, (accidentally) informed Rep. George Anthony Devolder Santos of reports that he has been charged by the Justice Department... "That's news to me," he said (around 5pm in Capitol, May 9th/yesterday). "You're the first to call me about this."

Rep. George Anthony Devolder Santos, the freshman Republican congressman whose myriad falsehoods became both a scandal and a national punchline, was charged with a host of financial crimes in court papers unsealed Wednesday. With Santos sidelined for now, McCarthy’s grip on the caucus is so weak that MTG is effectively the de facto Speaker of the House. Tell me I am wrong. Without Santos, McCarthy can’t pass his debt ceiling bill.

Santos, 34, surrendered to federal authorities in the morning and is expected to appear in a federal courthouse in Central Islip, on Long Island, later Wednesday. Officials said he has been charged with fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and false statements. The congressman and his lawyer did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Santos stands accused of defrauding prospective donors to his campaign and the state of New York, as well as making false statements to the House Committee on Ethics. He faces seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of lying to the House of Representatives on financial forms.

Details of his dealings with would-be donors and false statements on his ethics disclosures had been revealed in earlier reporting. But the indictment includes previously unknown accusations about a scheme to unlawfully obtain unemployment benefits.

According to prosecutors, Santos falsely claimed to have been unemployed in the summer of 2020 when he applied for benefits through the New York State Department of Labor and continued to falsely certify his unemployment through the following spring, receiving more than $24,744 from the state.

During that time, he was employed as a regional director for a Florida investment firm. In short, Feds say Santos received $24,744 in covid unemployment payments in 2020 even though he had a job. That firm goes unnamed in the indictment, but its details match those of a company called Harbor City Capital, which was forced to shut down in 2021 after the Securities and Exchange Commission called it a “classic Ponzi scheme.” All those luxury clothing purchases by Santos and he still did not look well-dressed.

“Taken together, the allegations in the indictment charge Santos with relying on repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement. “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.”

Read the indictment of Rep. George Santos

The federal allegations mark the latest chapter in a saga that has put Santos under a bright spotlight in Washington and beyond. The lies he told voters in a district stretching from parts of Long Island to Queens largely escaped national attention until after his November victory. Once they were revealed on a broad scale, Santos, who flipped a seat previously held by a Democrat, apologized for what he called “résumé embellishment.”

But some of the scrutiny has been aimed at more serious potential wrongdoing, including allegedly misrepresenting his campaign’s finances and deceiving people for his financial gain.

According to the indictment, Santos used tens of thousands of dollars that ostensibly was raised for his 2022 congressional race to pay for designer clothes, pay off debts, and give money to associates. The indictment adds significantly to understanding of an alleged scheme to defraud would-be donors to Santos’ congressional campaign — an effort that prosecutors say Santos directed in violation of federal campaign finance law. He is accused of soliciting funds, personally and through his campaign treasurer, to a company that he falsely represented both as a social welfare organization and a super PAC supporting his bid for federal office. In fact, prosecutors claim, funds from the company ultimately went to bank accounts controlled by Santos.

Santos is also charged with lying on congressional financial disclosure forms when he claimed that he earned $750,000 in salary from a firm he owned, had received between $1 million and $5 million in dividends from that firm, and had a checking account with a balance of more than $100,000 and a savings account with a balance of more than $1 million. None of those things were true, authorities said.

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Wide-ranging complaints filed by watchdog groups with the Federal Election Commission earlier this year accused Santos of misrepresenting campaign spending and using campaign resources to cover personal expenses, among other allegations. In January, the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section asked the FEC to hold off on any enforcement action against Santos, suggesting that prosecutors were examining overlapping issues.

The congressman has also came under fire for allegedly pocketing $3,000 from a GoFundMe page he purportedly set up for a homeless veteran to help pay for surgery for the man’s dying service dog — allegations that are not part of the indictment.

In March, a House ethics panel said it would investigate Santos and established a bipartisan subcommittee to examine claims about him, including about his past business practices, campaign finance expenditures and an allegation of sexual misconduct.

The congressman’s fabrications during his campaign touched nearly every aspect of his life, from his family background to his academic pedigree and work experience.

Santos said his mother was inside one of the World Trade Center towers when they were attacked on Sept. 11, 2001, but immigration records indicate that his mother wasn’t in the United States on that day. He claimed to have worked for high-powered Wall Street firms that denied employing him. He even falsely claimed to have been a star on his college volleyball team.

Republican leaders in his district and members of New York’s congressional delegation called on him to resign, but Santos refused. After initially dodging cameras and refusing interviews in the halls of Congress, the lawmaker came to embrace his notoriety. He threw in with the far-right faction of his party and endorsed former president Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign. Last month, he announced that he would seek reelection.

At a January event hosted at the Conrad Hotel by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) for donors and new members of Congress, Santos was asked how he was faring, according to two people present.

“This is an event for the new speaker, but I’m the most famous person in the room,” he replied.

This is a developing story. It will be updated.