BYE, GEORGE
Disgraced GOP Congressman George Santos shut down in bid to question jurors ahead of his fraud trial
Santos launched a failed longshot bid to return to Congress as an independent
DISGRACED former Congressman George Santos' request to quiz potential jurors about their opinions of him has been denied by a judge.
Santos' attorneys fought to include an extensive 137 questionnaire for prospective jurors during jury selection, arguing that intense negative media coverage of the shamed ex-lawmaker could impair his trial.
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The disgraced former New York congressman is facing a 23-count federal indictment, including money laundering, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
Santos' defense team argued that Judge Joanna Seybert must take additional steps to ensure the ex-lawmaker receives a fair trial.
His attorneys' argued the written form "concerning potential jurors' knowledge, beliefs, and preconceptions is needed" because of the extensive negative media coverage about Santos, 36.
In their motion, the defense cited over 1,500 news clips and a Saturday Night Live skit about Santos, who has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
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"For all intents and purposes, Santos has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion," the defense argued.
The defense argued that questionnaires were used during the trial of notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
"This pervasive and prejudicial publicity creates a substantial likelihood that potential jurors have been exposed to inadmissible and biased information, and have already formed a negative opinion about Santos, thereby jeopardizing his right to a fair trial," they claimed.
But, since being expelled from Congress in December, Santos has indulged in media attention and has even sold customized videos of himself on the app Cameo.
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Prosecutors argued the request was another tactic to delay the proceeding.
"His attempt to complicate and delay the proceeding through the use of lengthy, cumbersome, and time-consuming questionnaires is yet another example of Santos attempting to use his public persona as both a sword and a shield," prosecutors wrote.
"The court must not permit him to do so."
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Prosecutors argued that the publicity impact was Santos' own doing.
"Far from taking precautionary steps to mitigate the impact of such publicity on prosecution jurors, Santos - as he has done throughout these proceedings - spent much of the approximately nine months since his trial was scheduled making media appearances and publicly commenting upon this case," prosecutors wrote.
Seybert sided with the prosecution, calling Santos' efforts for a questionnaire one of the "worst and inefficient mechanisms," according to NewsNation.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin on September 9, with opening statements slated for September 16.
Santos declined to speak with reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing.
LYING GEORGE
Federal prosecutors are seeking to include evidence of some of Santos' lies he made during his 2022 campaign trail.
Santos falsely claimed that he graduated from both New York University and Baruch College and that he previously worked for financial giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs, according to prosecutors.
Citigroup and Goldman Sachs disclosed to The New York Times in December 2022 that they had no record of Santos ever being hired by either company.
Santos also claimed his maternal grandparents were Jewish who fled persecution in Europe during World War II.
However, records indicate Santos' maternal grandparents were born in Brazil before the Nazi regime came to power.
The disgraced lawmaker also claimed his mother, Fatima Devolder, worked at the World Trade Center during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
He claimed his mother died years later from cancer.
But, immigration records obtained by The New York Times showed Santos' mom was not in the United States in 2001.
'ONLYFANS, BOTOX, VACATIONS'
In their 23-count indictment last October, federal prosecutors accused Santos of stealing the identities of his campaign donors and illegally using their credit cards.
The indictment claimed that the credit card scheme began in late 2021.
In one instance, Santos allegedly transferred more than $11,000 from a donor's credit card to his personal checking account without authorization.
He allegedly used the funds to pay off his credit card debt and make purchases at luxury stores like Hermes and Sephora.
Then, in November, the House Ethics Committee released a scathing 56-page report citing "substantial evidence" to back the allegations made by federal prosecutors.
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Santos allegedly spent campaign donations on spas, botox procedures, OnlyFans subscriptions, and travel and hotel stays in Las Vegas, which the House Ethics Committee believes was for his honeymoon.
The House voted to oust Santos last December, ad he became the sixth lawmaker ever to be expelled from the chamber.
Why was George Santos expelled from Congress?
Former congressman George Santos was the first Republican to ever be expelled from the House — why?
Santos made history for the Republican party during his short tenure as the US representative for New York's 3rd congressional district.
In January 2023, Santos became the first openly gay Republican to be elected to Congress and, less than a year later, was the first party member to be expelled from the House.
Soon after being elected, news outlets began reporting inconsistencies in the stories he told on the campaign trail.
Santos allegedly lied about his education, work experience, property ownership, ethnicity, and religion, among other things.
In May 2023, he was indicted on 12 criminal charges, including counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds, and the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation.
Santos allegedly used donor money to fund purchases at Hermes and OnlyFans, lied to collect unemployment, and falsely claimed he worked at Wall Street and was a volleyball star at a college he never attended, according to the committee,
He's also been accused of fabricating associations with the Holocaust, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.
Santos has admitted to lying about some of his history but still pleaded not guilty to the 23 fraud-related charges he is now facing.
In December 2023, more than 300 House members, including 105 Republicans, voted to oust Santos from Congress.