George Santos pleads not guilty to 13 charges, including wire fraud and theft
George Santos, the New York congressman who rose to prominence for a string of exaggerations, lies, and irregularities related to his personal background and campaign finances, pleaded not guilty after being hit with a series of federal charges.
He told the press after exiting the courthouse on Wednesday that the probe is a “witch hunt” and that he’s planning to run for reelection. Mr Santos surrendered to the authorities and was taken into custody at a federal courthouse.
He was released on a $500,000 bond ahead of his next court appearance on 30 June.
Mr Santos has been charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives.
Utah GOP Senator Mitt Romney led the calls for him to go, saying, “He has demonstrated by his untruthfulness that he should not be in the United States Congress — perhaps should not even be on the public streets”.
