The two people who secretly guaranteed George Santos’s $500,000 bond were identified as his father and aunt, as the embattled Republican fights a federal fraud case and an effort to expel him from the US House of Representatives.
The guarantors’ identities were revealed for the first time in court documents on Thursday, after news media organizations fought Santos’s efforts to keep them private. It also became clear that the court didn’t mandate that the guarantors have the financial means to back the bond, as is typically required.
The 34-year-old lawmaker’s father, Gercino dos Santos Jr., is identified in public records as a construction worker, painter and retiree living in the New York City borough of Queens who donated more than $7,800 to his son’s election campaign. His aunt, Elma Santos Preven, is a US Postal Service mail handler who also lives in Queens and has given more than $5,000 to his campaign.
Efforts to reach the two for comment weren’t successful.
13-Count Indictment
Santos was charged in May in a 13-count indictment alleging he engaged in a scheme to tap campaign contributions for his personal expenses. Prosecutors also accused him of fraudulently receiving more than $24,000 in pandemic unemployment benefits as well as lying in disclosures to the House. He has pleaded not guilty.
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Santos’s improbable rags-to-riches story rang alarm bells that led to the discovery of numerous falsehoods he purveyed, including that he had worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and graduated from Baruch College after playing on its championship volleyball team. The congressman has said he may have embellished his resume but never broke the law.
Santos faces as many as 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges of money laundering and wire fraud, the government says, although under federal sentencing guidelines his term would probably be shorter. His next appearance is scheduled for June 30 before US District Judge Joanna Seybert, a Bill Clinton appointee, who is presiding over the case.
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The charges come at a precarious time for House Republicans, whose narrow edge in the chamber means they can’t have more than a handful of defections to pass most bills. The House Ethics Committee on Thursday said in a statement that its investigative panel was “actively working to resolve this matter in an expeditious timeframe and has issued over 30 subpoenas and more than 40 voluntary requests for information.”
The committee said it had expanded its investigation to include the unemployment insurance allegations and that it was coordinating with the Justice Department to “mitigate the potential risks” of a dual probe.
Fight Over Disclosure
Santos was elected to Congress last November and sworn into office as the representative for New York’s 3rd Congressional District in January. His district, which leans Democratic, includes part of Queens and much of Nassau County.
At his May 10 arraignment, US Magistrate Judge Anne Shields released him, directing him to get three co-signers on his bond. Later she agreed to two.
Read More: Santos Secures Three Mystery Guarantors for $500,000 Bond
But in a departure from the typical process for federal defendants, Shields didn’t require that Santos identify the guarantors in open court. Joseph Murray, a lawyer for Santos, argued their identities should remain sealed, saying the two feared they could face public opprobrium and even lose their jobs if identified. In a June 6 order made public Thursday, Shields said she had agreed to seal the information “to protect his family from publicity and possible harassment” and “to accommodate their privacy.”
Fear of Backlash
Media organizations including Bloomberg News argued in court that the disclosure of the guarantors’ identities was a matter of public interest in a case involving an elected official. The House Ethics Committee also asked for the disclosure so it could determine whether House rules on gifts had been violated.
Murray told the court that Santos, the lawmaker’s staff and even he himself had received threatening messages, and that his client would rather go to jail ahead of his trial than identify the guarantors publicly and subject them “to what will inevitably come.”
On June 20, Seybert ruled that the congressman must disclose the guarantors’ names by Thursday at noon.
She said it was “mere speculation” that the two would be the targets of harassment. “As the news organizations aptly note, family members frequently serve as suretors for criminal defendants in this country every day,” she wrote.
In the end, Santos agreed to the disclosure.
The case is US v. Santos, 23-cr-197, US District Court, Eastern District of New York (Central Islip).
(Updates with details, quotes and context throughout, starting in first paragraph.)