U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-NY) heads to the ground of the House of Representatives for a vote on a Republican motion to refer a Democratic-sponsored resolution to expel Santos from the House to the House Ethics Committee as a substitute of a direct explusion vote, on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 17, 2023.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., asked a federal court Friday morning to reverse a judge’s order to disclose the identities of the individuals who guaranteed the $500,000 bond in his criminal fraud case.
An attorney for Santos, the scandal-plagued freshman congressman who’s charged with multiple financial crimes, argued that the backers’ identities should remain private due to concerns that they will probably be attacked and harassed because of this of the “media frenzy” surrounding the case.
“It’s respectfully submitted that the court did not perceive the importance of the privacy problems with these suretors,” the attorney, Joseph Murray, wrote in a court filing in U.S. District Court in Long Island.
“Given the political temperature on this Country and acts of political violence that occur, the privacy interests of those suretors are much more concerning, especially considering their ages and respective employment,” Murray wrote.
Magistrate Judge Anne Shields three days earlier had granted requests from several news outlets that had argued that the general public had a right to know the guarantors’ identities. Shields had given Santos until noon on Friday to file his appeal.
Santos, 34, has pleaded not guilty to charges of defrauding his campaign supporters, lying to acquire unemployment money and making false statements on his congressional disclosure forms. The fees follow a pile of scandals which have weighed down the congressman since even before he took office in January.
He has vowed to not resign and is in search of reelection, although he previously acknowledged that he lied about his record while campaigning.
Lawyers for The Recent York Times had argued that the massive bail amount backed by the yet-to-be-identified people “presents an obvious opportunity for political influence,” especially because Santos “has been charged with involve abusing the political process for private gain.”
But Murray said that “countervailing aspects” support keeping the bail backers’ identities under wraps. He said that Santos, his staff and others have been subjected to “hateful attacks” through the case.
“These attacks have been extremely indignant, anti-gay, anti-Republican and throughout antisocial,” Murray wrote.
“It is cheap to conclude that if Defendant’s suretors are identified, that the attacks and harassment will start against them too,” the lawyer argued.
That climate contributed to a 3rd potential suretor “having a change of heart and withdrawing,” Murray wrote.
He added that if the opposite two backers’ identities are released, they’re likely to determine “that they shall must withdraw from, serving as suretors.”
“There may be great concern for the health, safety, and well-being of our two suretors, which sadly, was not shared by Judge Shields, at the least as an element of their privacy concerns,” Murray wrote.
