Romney leads calls for George Santos to resign after arrest on federal charges – live

Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill the day Santos was arrested and charged in federal court on Long Island, Romney called on him to resign immediately.

“I think we are seeing that the wheels of justice may move slowly, but they turn well and he will have his day in court, but it certainly seems that things are not going well for Mr. Santos,” he said.

Romney previously told Santos that he did not have to be in the House of Representatives during a testy exchange before President Joe Biden delivered his annual State of the Union address to Congress in March.

In the confrontation between the Utah senator and the freshman representative from New York that was caught on television cameras, Romney called Santos “an embarrassment” and told him: “You don’t belong here.”

According to the unsealed indictment, between September and October 2022, Mr. Santos allegedly “knowingly and intentionally devised a plan and contrivance to defraud and obtain money by means of one or more materially false and fraudulent claims, presentations, and promises.” .

Federal prosecutors accused Santos of lying to donors and supporters by pitching a Florida LLC company, which Santos served as manager through another company, as a fund for his House campaign.

The indictment alleges that Mr. Santos told donors and supporters that Florida LLC was a Section 501(c)(4) welfare organization, or an independent spending committee when it was not.

Three of the wire fraud counts allege that Mr. Santos falsely told two anonymous donors that the funds would be used to support his House bid through the purchase of television advertisements.

However, Mr. Santos allegedly used the money received for personal expenses, “including to make cash withdrawals, personal purchases of luxury designer clothing, credit card payments, a car payment, personal debt payments, and a or more bank transfers to Devolder Santos. personal associates.”

The three money laundering charges allege that Mr. Santos electronically transferred $24,000 – $25,000 of the money that donors sent to the Florida company into their personal bank accounts.

New York Representative George Santos was arrested and charged with 13 criminal charges, including money laundering, theft of public money, wire fraud and making false statements to Congress.

In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, federal prosecutors outlined three major fraud schemes that Santos orchestrated to enrich himself.

Another alleges that Mr. Santos attempted to receive unemployment benefits through New York State.

The latter alleges that Santos lied about his personal finances when he disclosed them to the House of Representatives during his campaign.

The Lincoln Project joined the chorus criticizing Santos on Wednesday, tweeting: “A vote for the Republican Party is a vote for the party of George Santos, Marjorie Taylor Greene and the sexual abuser Donald J. Trump, twice impeached. Are these the people you entrust your future to? The future of your family?

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York tweeted on Wednesday that “the party of George Santos and Marjorie Taylor Greene cannot be trusted to govern. Not now. Never”.

The group Concerned Citizens of NY-03, which has been advocating for Santos’ removal for months, issued a statement saying that “It is time for Chairman Kevin McCarthy to withdraw his support for Santos and show him the door.”

“It is a shame that McCarthy has continued to sully the US House of Representatives by allowing Santos to walk those hallowed halls, for over four months! And for all that time, residents of New York’s Third Congressional District have not had meaningful representation,” the group added.