In December 2023, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives, as my colleague Joe Cunningham wrote at the time, “by an overwhelming majority”:
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Congressman George Santos, the controversial Republican at the center of a major fraud scandal, has been expelled from the House of Representatives by an overwhelming majority.
In a 311-114 vote (with two members voting “Present” and eight not voting), Santos lost all but two Democrats and roughly half the Republican conference.
The vote came after it was revealed, among other things, that the Santos campaign had allegedly committed fraud not just on voters, but on some of Santos’ own colleagues.
Cunningham also noted that Santos was just the third congressman to be expelled from the lower chamber since the Civil War.
BREAKING: George Santos Expelled From House of Representatives
Then in late December, during a Spaces conversation on X, Santos announced that he was writing a tell-all book, and continuing to support Republicans and former President Donald Trump in the 2024 elections.
George Santos Teases Comeback, Dishes Capitol Hill Corruption in Tell-All Book
More recently, on Tuesday, RedState’s Susie Moore mentioned in her “Morning Minute” column that the former lawmaker appeared the same day for a pre-trial hearing on the federal charges, writing that “Santos is facing 23 charges of campaign finance fraud.”
But it appears that trial is ending before it begins, according to a story Talking Points Memo broke late Friday. The NY Times story notes that when Santos was indicted in 2023, he pled not guilty to all of the felony charges:
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Mr. Santos, 36, was first indicted on 13 charges in May 2023 after a lengthy investigation into a series of financial crimes that federal prosecutors accused him of. Ten more counts followed in October.
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Mr. Santos, whose trial on 23 felony charges was scheduled to begin on Sept. 9, could still change his mind. But this week, two lawyers representing multiple witnesses in the case were told by federal prosecutors that Mr. Santos had decided to plead guilty.
Two others with knowledge of the plans confirmed that he intends to plead guilty on Monday; one of the people said Mr. Santos is expected to give a statement in court acknowledging his crimes. The terms of his expected guilty plea and what sentence he might face were not clear.
Public court records show that an in-person hearing has been scheduled for Monday afternoon at the request of prosecutors and Mr. Santos’s lawyers. The records did not explain the purpose of the hearing. Mr. Santos and one of his lawyers, Joseph Murray, did not respond to requests for comment.
As this is a developing story, RedState will provide updates as they become available.