Santos pleads not guilty to new charges, trial set for September 2024
by Zach Schonfeld and Mychael Schnell - 10/27/23 11:28 AM ET
Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) pleaded not guilty to federal charges of fraudulently inflating his campaign finance reports and charging his donors’ credit cards without authorization.
Santos appeared in court in Central Islip, N.Y., on Friday for his arraignment on the 10 additional charges prosecutors unveiled in a superseding indictment earlier this month.
During the proceeding, U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert set the trial to begin Sept. 9, 2024, court filings show. The parties had requested a trial date months earlier, either in May or June.
Santos’s next court appearance is set for Dec. 12, court filings indicate.
His plea comes as political and legal pressure grows on Santos, including a new effort from a group of fellow New York Republicans to have him expelled from the House.
“I have not been in discussion or a plea deal at this time, and the reason so is I’m strong in my convictions that I can prove my innocence,” Santos told reporters earlier this month after being charged with the new counts.
Santos has been the subject of controversy ever since he arrived on Capitol Hill in January after he admitted to embellishing parts of his background while campaigning.
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https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4279458-santos-pleads-not-guilty-to-new-charges-trial-set-for-september-2024/
