Santos says he won’t resign blasting fraud case as ‘witch hunt’

May 11, 2023

Lying Long Island Rep. George Santos said he will not resign — and blasted the fraud and money laundering charges against him as a “witch hunt” — after he was released from federal custody on $500,000 bond Wednesday.

Santos, 34, was mobbed by reporters and cameras as he left federal court in Central Islip — telling the crowd that he still planned to run for re-election and would be heading back to Washington.

“Now I’m going to have to go fight to defend myself,” Santos said. “The reality is that it’s a witch hunt.”

The Republican congressman — infamous for concocting much of his background — claimed he would be sharing information about his finances with the feds “to dispel their accusations against me.”

“I will not resign,” he told reporters.

As for whether the charges will impact his 2024 re-election bid, Santos said: “That’s not up for me to know. Elections are very tricky and it’s up to the people. I trust them to decide what’s best.”

Earlier, a put-together Santos appeared in court wearing a blue blazer, white shirt, black sweater and khakis and calmly entered a “not guilty” plea to a 13-count indictment as a packed courtroom looked on.

Santos is accused of embezzling $50,000 in campaign money for designer duds and personal expenses, cheating his way to COVID unemployment pay and lying to Congress about his income.

George Santos speaks to reporters outside of the federal courthouse.

George Santos outside court. — Rep. George Santos called the federal fraud case against him “a witch hunt” and said he wouldn’t step down from his seat.

The openly gay GOP lawmaker — who reps the 3rd District on Long Island and Queens — is charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making false statements to the House of Representatives.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the top charges.

Keeping track of Rep. George Santos’ lies

Santos has admitted he lied on the campaign trail about his education and work experience.

Claimed to have attended Horace Mann private school
A school spokesperson told CNN, “We’ve searched the records and there is no evidence that George Santos (or any alias) attended Horace Mann.”

Claimed to have earned degrees from New York University and Baruch College
After the New York Times reported that neither school could find his name in their records, Santos came clean to The Post.

Claimed to have worked for Citigroup and Goldman Sachs
Both financial firms told the New York Times they couldn’t confirm his employment claims.

Claimed to own 13 rental properties
Santos confessed to The Post that he “does not own any properties” and acknowledged that he lived in his sister’s home on Long Island.

Touted himself as a ‘proud American Jew’ whose grandparents escaped the Holocaust
“I never claimed to be Jewish,” Santos said. “I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was ‘Jew-ish.’”

Claimed his mom was a groundbreaking executive who died as a result of the Sept. 11 terror attacks
Fatima A.C.H. Devolder died on Dec. 23, 2016, at Elmhurst Hospital Hospice.

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Judge Anne Shields agreed to release Santos on bail on the conditions that he turn over his passport and limit his travel to within the tristate area and Washington, DC — unless he is otherwise given permission.

Speaking outside court, Santos said he was shocked about how quickly the feds moved against him — in comparison to how long it took for President Biden’s family to be identified as having received foreign income.

Congressman George Santos leaves Federal Court in Central Islip on May 10, 2023. — Santos pleaded not guilty to a 13-count indictment in federal court.

“It makes no sense that in four months…five months — I’m indicted!” Santos said. “You have Joe Biden’s entire family … nine family members receiving money from foreign destinations into their bank accounts.”

“It’s been years of exposing … and yet no investigation is launched into them,” the politician continued. “I’m gonna fight my battle, I’m going to deliver, I’m going to fight the witch hunt. I’m going to take care of clearing my name and I look forward to doing that.”

According to the indictment, Santos solicited two separate $25,000 payments from two donors in October 2022 under the pretense that the money would go toward funding his campaign.

But instead, Santos spent the money to pay his bills, credit cards and other debt and also spent it on “personal purchases of luxury designer clothing,” the court papers allege.

He also allegedly lied on statements to the House of Representatives in 2020 and in 2022 — inflating certain assets and income while failing to disclose others, the indictment charges.

Santos, 34, was mobbed by reporters and cameras as he left federal court in Central Islip

And he claimed to be unemployed from June 2020 through April 2021 despite earning $120,000 at a job during the same period.

Santos made national headlines last year after admitting to an elaborate series of lies about his education, work background and family history.

New York Republican lawmakers — including Gov. Kathy Hochul — have called for him to step down.

“Governor Hochul is entitled to her opinion. I don’t represent her — she is not my constituent,” Santos said when asked after the hearing about Hochul’s call for him to resign.

“I did the best I could to keep my composure,” he added about his appearance in court. “I was fine but this has been an experience for, you know, a book or something like that.”