U.S. Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves a House GOP conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 25, 2023. Santos filed paperwork Tuesday, March 14, 2023, indicating his intent to run for reelection, even as he faces calls to resign amid ongoing criminal and ethics investigations into lies he told while running for office. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
By Michael Balsamo, Farnoush Amiri and Jake Offenhartz
U.S. Rep. George Santos, who faced outrage and mockery over a litany of fabrications about his heritage, education and professional pedigree, has been charged with federal criminal offenses, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The charges against Santos, filed in the Eastern District of New York, remain under seal.
The people could not discuss specific details of the case and spoke to The AP on condition of anonymity.
Reached on Tuesday, Santos said, “This is news to me.”
“You’re the first to call me about this,” he said in a brief phone interview.
The New York Republican has admitted to lying about having Jewish ancestry, a Wall Street background, college degrees and a history as a star volleyball player. Serious questions about his finances also surfaced — including the source of what he claimed was a quickly amassed fortune despite recent financial problems, including evictions and owing thousands of dollars in back rent.
Associated Press writers Michael R. Sisak in New York and Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed to this report.
A four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war has taken effect, setting the stage for the exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
A group of Lahaina wildfire survivors is vowing to camp on a popular resort beach until the mayor uses his emergency powers to shut down unpermitted vacation rentals and make the properties available for residents in desperate need of housing.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan is calling on the assistant U.S. attorney for Delaware, Lesley Wolf, to appear before the committee by Dec. 7 to respond to allegations that she interfered in the yearslong case into the president’s son.
Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for a four-day halt to the devastating war in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages held by the militant group as well as Palestinian prisoners.
New Jersey will prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 as part of an effort to improve air quality and reduce planet-warming pollutants, officials announced Tuesday.
