BREAKING: Republican Congressman Charged by Federal Prosecutors

Sources familiar with the situation said Tuesday that federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York charged Rep. George Santos (R-NY).

The charges will remain unsealed until Santos appears in court, so the allegations are unclear.

The first-term Congressman reportedly may appear in federal court Wednesday.

BREAKING: Rep. George Santos has been charged by federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York, according to sources familiar with the matter. https://t.co/paEkIqHCXx

— ABC News (@ABC) May 9, 2023

ABC News reported:

While the charges remain sealed, sources have previously told ABC News that the FBI, federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York, and the district attorneys’ offices in Queens and Nassau counties have been investigating Santos.

Investigators have been focusing on Santos’ financial disclosures, according to sources.

Additionally, as ABC News previously reported, the FBI contacted a Navy veteran, Richard Osthoff, about a GoFundMe campaign Santos established to raise money for the veteran’s service dog.

Santos established the GoFundMe account under the auspices of a charity, Friends of Pets United, and raised $3,000 to help Osthoff pay for surgery to remove a tumor from the dog, sources said.

But Osthoff told ABC News Santos did not come through with the money and ignored text messages about it. The dog, Sapphire, subsequently died.

Santos insisted earlier this year he would serve out his term despite mounting controversies surrounding his past falsehoods, scrutiny of his finances, and multiple investigations.

BREAKING: Congressman George Santos has been criminally charged by federal prosecutors in New York's Eastern District.

The exact charges are still under seal but he's been accused of violating campaign finance laws, conflict of interest laws, stealing $ from a veteran for his… pic.twitter.com/RUZbqNh5my

— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) May 9, 2023

Santos admitted that he lied about his education and work experience while campaigning after winning his congressional election in Long Island.

The New York Post reported:

Long Island Rep.-elect George Santos came clean to The Post on Monday, admitting that he lied on the campaign trail about his education and work experience — but insisting that the controversy won’t deter him from serving out his two-year term in Congress.

“I am not a criminal,” Santos said at one point during his exclusive interview. “This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”

Santos’ professional biography was called into question earlier this month after the New York Times reported that he misrepresented a number of claims, including where he attended college and his alleged employment history with high-profile Wall Street firms.

“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos said Monday.

Santos confessed he had “never worked directly” for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, chalking that fib up to a “poor choice of words.”

However, there’s an intriguing element to this story.

Is it possible the FBI placed informants in the Congressman’s office?

“I can publicly confirm that during my brief time in the Congressman’s office I had met secretly with agents from @FBI in an effort to work as a confidential informant and human asset against the Congressman during my course of employment in his office. I cannot go into further detail at this time,” Twitter user Derek Myers wrote Tuesday.

I can publicly confirm that during my brief time in the Congressman’s office I had met secretly with agents from @FBI in an effort to work as a confidential informant and human asset against the Congressman during my course of employment in his office. I cannot go into further… https://t.co/04nyKyliVK

— Derek Myers (@DerekMyers) May 9, 2023

A ‘journalist’ outing himself as a federal informant on social media?

Is anyone buying this?

Independent journalist Lee Fang commented on the tweet.

“Interesting if true: The FBI recruited Rep. George Santos’ volunteers/staff as informants as soon as he was elected. Do they do this w/senior lawmakers & leadership? Lots of potential corruption, but limitless prosecutorial discretion on who to target,” Fang wrote.

Interesting if true: The FBI recruited Rep. George Santos' volunteers/staff as informants as soon as he was elected. Do they do this w/senior lawmakers & leadership? Lots of potential corruption, but limitless prosecutorial discretion on who to target https://t.co/UpchDeqjtS

— Lee Fang (@lhfang) May 9, 2023