On October 10, New York representative George Santos was indicted by a federal grand jury on 23 counts relating to embezzling, fraud, identity theft along with other charges.
Santos is being accused of stealing campaign donors’ identities, taking their money through banking information and proceeding to spend it on personal expenses. Strikingly enough, these charges come in addition to many other existing federal offenses.
The Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs released a statement detailing the full extent of Santos’s charges.
“Santos was previously charged with an additional 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 U.S. House of Representatives in the original indictment,” the Office of Public Affairs said.
The new charges became unique, nevertheless, through the scale of operations. Santos had nearly $8,000 in his personal bank account before the transactions occurred. After, over $500,000 had been accumulated in his account from an undisclosed loan that was — supposedly — to be paid off with his donor’s credit cards.
In a formal address to the court, Santos’ former treasurer Nancy Marks detailed how she helped Santos.
“I filed a first quarter 2022 report stating that $500,000 was loaned to the campaign by co-conspirator #1 and the money was not received at the time,” Marks said. “As campaign treasurer, I knew that the loan had not been made at the time.”
As a result, the Department of Justice suspects that at least $44,800 was taken and concealed from campaign donors to pay the loan, demonstrating disastrous financial effects. Yet, many are left questioning the political implications of Santos’s damaged reputation.
“Depending on the mood of the voters in New York’s Third Congressional District and the district’s jury pool, Congressman Santos’s political career may continue,” said Kevin Spann, a political science professor at GC. “That said, if Congress could manage to go a few years without lurching from crisis to crisis and close call to close call regarding things like breaching the debt limit or government shutdowns, congressional leaders could aspire to Americans-once again-viewing the institution as boring but competent.”
However, Spann is not alone in this opinion; some GC students believe that the Santos situation is simply a matter of continuity in the political system, revealed through an open veil.
“It does not alter my view of Congress,” said Jayden Kypri, a freshman chemistry major. “I think Congress is corrupt because of their natural superiority, as they can get away with many things.”
Santos scandal is coming at a time of a lot of political turmoil. In the context of American politics with the past few weeks have been indicative of certain trends. For instance, Former President Donald Trump was indicted on 37 counts in federal court; Hunter Biden, son of current President Joe Biden, was charged with two counts of tax violations and one count of illegally possessing a firearm.
“It [George Santos] does not alter my view of Congress,” said Jayden Kypri, a freshman chemistry major. “I think Congress is corrupt because of their natural superiority, as they can get away with many things.”
Beyond question, the U.S. Congress is resultingly losing public support. In March 2021, the estimated approval rating of Congress was 31.2%; now, it is projected to be at 18.9%, according to ABC News.
