Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., pled not guilty Friday to additional charges in a superseding indictment, including allegations of identity theft and transferring money to his personal bank account from a supporter’s credit card.
U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert set a trial date for Santos of Sept. 9 of next year, which is expected to last a month. His next status conference is scheduled for this Dec. 12. Santos did not comment to reporters on the way out of the courthouse.
A small group of protestors stood outside the building in Central Islip, N.Y., on Friday waving signs that said “Expel Santos now” and “Santos stole NY."
Santos is accused of "stealing people’s identities and making charges on his own donors’ credit cards without their authorization, lying to the FEC and, by extension, the public about the financial state of his campaign," the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Breon Peace, said in a statement when the new indictment was announced earlier this month.
Peace also said that the GOP congressman "falsely inflated the campaign’s reported receipts with non-existent loans and contributions that were either fabricated or stolen."
The new indictment charges Santos with conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States, wire fraud, making materially false statements to the Federal Election Commission, falsifying records submitted to obstruct the FEC, aggravated identity theft, and device fraud.
Santos' congressional office did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment. When the new charges were announced, Santos said he had “no clue what’s going on,” adding, “I will fight this.”
Santos pleaded not guilty in May to a 13-count federal indictment unsealed by the Justice Department and was released on a $500,000 bond. He was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making materially false statements to the U.S. House of Representatives.
His appearance in court on Friday comes after House Republicans from New York on Thursday moved to force a vote on whether to expel Santos from Congress. The measure requires the House to vote on the resolution within two legislative days, which could happen next week.
