Rep. George Santos, Republican of New York, arrives to vote at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Scandal-plagued Rep. George Santos, RN.Y., has been charged with criminal charges by the Justice Department, NBC News reported Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The nature of federal indictments against a freshman congressman who admitted to lying about his background was not immediately clear. , a source told NBC.
A Santos attorney and spokesperson did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment. A spokeswoman for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.
News of the indictment comes just weeks after Santos announced its 2024 re-election campaign.
Santos has come under scrutiny for several scandals that defined his short time in Congress.
Santos admitted to lying about his education and work history before taking office. He denied having committed the crime. However, he reportedly many Inquiries for officials at various levels of government to investigate his campaign finances and other topics.
Rep. Mike Lawler, a GOP freshman from New York, has a few words for NBC: reaction To the reported accusations against Santos: ‘Resign’.
Lawler is the latest Republican to call for Santos’ resignation.But Santos has so far dismissed his critics, saying only voters in his constituency will decide whether he stays in Congress. , it turns out that voters in the Santos district overwhelmingly look at him unfavorably across party lines.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (California Republican) has a very large majority and can’t afford to lose just a handful of votes, so he’s not joining his colleagues’ call for Santos to step down. .
Asked about Santos’ legal troubles on Tuesday, McCarthy said he would “consider the charges.”
The House Ethics Committee in March appointed a subcommittee to investigate potential misconduct by Santos’ campaign. The subcommittee is also investigating allegations of sexual harassment made earlier this year by journalist Derek Myers, who said Santos had two men alone in his office reading his precinct’s mail. Santos denies the claim.
CNN First report I will bill you early in the afternoon on Tuesday.