How prosecutors expanded their case against George Santos

NEW YORK — When Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) faced his first federal indictment, in May, he told reporters, “This is the beginning of the ability for me to address and defend myself.”

But it was also just the beginning for his prosecutors. In the five months since, they’ve rolled out a textbook strategy for pursuing a high-profile defendant accused of wide-ranging crimes.

They brought charges against two of the New York Republican’s associates, quickly securing a guilty plea from one while remaining in plea talks with the other. And on Tuesday, they slapped Santos with another set of charges that are in some ways more eye-popping than those in the initial indictment.

The methodical escalation of pressure is part of prosecutors’ effort to dismantle what they’ve described as a congressional campaign operation rife with fraud.

They’ve also engaged in plea talks with Santos himself, according to court papers. So far, Santos is publicly rejecting the potential for a deal — and the freshman congressman says he plans to run for reelection to his seat, which covers parts of Queens and Long Island.

“The answer is no. I will not take a plea deal,” Santos told a small group of reporters on Wednesday. “I can prove my innocence.”

That will require overcoming the evidence, witnesses and — perhaps most significantly — potential cooperators that prosecutors in the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office are still piecing together.

“The mantra in the office is, you investigate up through trial because you just never know what you’re going to find,” said Nathan Reilly, former senior litigation counsel and former chief of the public integrity section in the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office.

That’s especially true in the case of a serial fabulist like Santos, whose history of scandals, big and small, is varied and vast.

Prosecutors can use the additional evidence they amass to tighten the screws on a defendant before trial, perhaps in hopes of persuading them to plead guilty.

“Typically, you would then be having conversations with counsel and saying, ‘This is going to get worse for your guy before it gets better,’” said Reilly, who now works in private practice in law firm Morrison Foerster’s investigations and white collar defense group.

In May, prosecutors unveiled a 13-count indictment against Santos, accusing him of fraudulently obtaining unemployment benefits, using campaign contributions to pay down personal debts and purchase designer clothing, and lying to the House of Representatives about his financial condition.

In that indictment, prosecutors alleged three schemes. In the first, Santos allegedly directed a Queens-based political consultant to solicit contributions to a limited-liability company supporting his campaign, then transferred $50,000 of donations to his personal bank accounts. He eventually used that money for personal expenses including paying personal debts, withdrawing cash and purchasing luxury clothing, according to the indictment.

In the second, Santos received more than $24,000 in unemployment benefits even though he was employed as a regional director of a Florida-based investment firm, the indictment said. And in the third, he made false statements to the House of Representatives, misleading Congress and the public about his financial condition.

Despite calling the investigation a “witch hunt,” Santos told reporters at the time that “I’ve been complying throughout this entire process. I have no desire not to comply at this point. They’ve been gracious in there,” he said, gesturing to the courthouse. “Now, I’m going to have to go and fight to defend myself.”

That first indictment, however, was hardly the end of the government’s investigation. In August, prosecutors charged a former Santos campaign aide, Samuel Miele, accusing him of impersonating an aide to then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy while soliciting contributions for Santos’ campaign.

Miele initially pleaded not guilty. But several weeks later, there were signs that he might be considering changing his plea and cooperating with the government against his former boss. In court filings, prosecutors said they had entered into plea talks with Miele, saying “negotiations concerning a potential resolution of this case without the need for a trial are active and ongoing.”

And prosecutors in Santos’ own case hinted that the congressman himself might be willing to budge, asking a judge to delay a court hearing because “the parties have continued to discuss possible paths forward in this matter.”

Four weeks later, though, prosecutors turned up the heat yet again.

On Oct. 5, they extracted a guilty plea from yet another Santos associate: the treasurer of his political campaigns, Nancy Marks. Marks pleaded guilty to one felony count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, admitting to allegations in court papers that she worked with Santos to report false campaign donations and a fabricated $500,000 loan from Santos to his own campaign.

After her guilty plea, Marks’ lawyer, Ray Perini, placed the blame squarely on Santos, telling reporters that Marks was a “well-respected campaign treasurer and political operative” until she began working with Santos, according to the New York Times. “This man, with his lies and manipulations,” Perini said, “has ruined many a life.”

Just five days later, prosecutors filed a fresh set of 10 new charges against Santos, many of them based on conduct to which Marks had pleaded guilty. In the updated indictment, prosecutors accused Santos of stealing people’s identities, making charges on his donors’ credit cards without their authorization and submitting false campaign reports that listed non-existent loans and contributions that were fabricated or stolen.

The indictment includes alleged schemes drawn directly from Marks’ case, including one in which Santos and Marks allegedly conspired to falsely show that his congressional campaign had raised at least $250,000 from third-party contributors in a single quarter in order to qualify for a program run by the Republican National Committee that would provide financial and logistical support to his campaign. In order to meet the threshold, prosecutors said, Santos and Marks falsely listed contributions from their own family members and reported the fabricated $500,000 loan from Santos to his own campaign.

The indictment also detailed additional allegations, including a scheme in which Santos stole his donors’ personal and financial information and used it to repeatedly charge their credit cards without their authorization, then transferred the funds to his campaign, the campaigns of others and his personal bank account.

The updated indictment added charges of one count of conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, two counts of wire fraud, two counts of making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission, two counts of falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, two counts of aggravated identity theft and one count of access device fraud.

On Wednesday, Santos scoffed at the idea that the new round of charges could result in an attempt by House Republicans to expel him from Congress.

“They can try to expel me, but I pity the fools that go ahead and do that and think that that's the smartest idea,” Santos said. “They're in tough elections next year, but they're setting precedent for the future.”

But even with 23 federal charges to fend off, Santos may not be looking at the final tally of allegations from prosecutors.

On Tuesday, the same day prosecutors filed the updated indictment, they also told the judge in Miele’s case that they are still working toward a plea deal.

“[T]he parties have continued to engage in meaningful discussions regarding a disposition of this matter short of trial,” they wrote in a court filing, “and require additional time to continue and conclude such negotiations.”