I am going to take care of clearing my name, and I look forward to doing that.'

'I'm going to fight my battle,' Santos told reporters after the hearing. He also surrendered his passport and, if convicted, could face up to 20 years in prison. Santos was released on a $500,000 bond following his arraignment, around five hours after turning himself in, the Associated Press reported. The 34-year-old congressman is also alleged to have created a company to funnel political donations into, which prosecutors say were then used for personal expenses. Santos' attorney declined to comment when approached by Newsweek on Thursday. Look for him to retreat soon to the “can’t talk about pending charges” line. Wasn’t clear that you couldn’t get unemployment benefits if you were working and lied saying you weren’t? He’s now stuck with this nonsense explanation. 'I don't understand where the government's getting their information, but I will present my facts.'

'During the pandemic, it wasn't very clear,' he added. Santos appeared in a fighting spirit when he emerged from court, vowing to defeat the charges against him and describing the case as a 'witch hunt.'Īmong the allegations against him, Santos is accused of lying about his finances on congressional disclosure documents and receiving unemployment benefits while earning $120,000 as a regional director of a company that federal investigators closed in 2021 over claims it may have been a Ponzi scheme.Īsked about his allegedly claiming unemployment benefits while on a six-figure salary by ABC's Rachel Scott, Santos responded: 'This is part of my defense, this is inaccurate information and I will get to clear my name on this. Federal prosecutors charged Santos, who denies any wrongdoing, in a 13-count indictment that includes 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 House of Representatives. George Santos (R-NY) speaks to the press as he leaves Federal Court on in Central Islip, New York.

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