'Premeditated con': Santos makes first federal court appearance after criminal indictment

30 June 2023

United States Rep. George Santos (R-NY) made his his first appearance Friday in a federal New York court, The Washington Post reports, weeks after the embattled lawmaker was indicted on 13 criminal counts that included wire fraud, money laundering and making false statements.

Per the Post, after "prosecutors said they turned over more than 80,000 documents" to Santos for his legal team to review, the federal judge "agreed to give parties until Sept. 7 before discussing motion deadlines and a trial date," which according to CNN, is "one week before Congress is back in session."

Furthermore, the Post notes the judge urged both Santos' and the defense legal team "to quickly work through the discovery process so that a speedy trial could happen."

Meanwhile, CNN reports some of the congressman's frustrated constituents gathered around the courthouse, calling out the "firehose of garbage and deceit" from the GOP lawmaker, and demanding his resignation.

"We are the victims," Concerned Citizens of NY-03 founder, Jody Kass Finkel, said during a press conference.

Referring to Santos as a "premeditated con," Finked emphasized, "We fully expect George Santos to go to prison, but that doesn’t solve our immediate problem."

The Washington Post's full report is available at this link (subscription required). CNN's report is here.

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