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A federal judge plans to release the names of the people who backed George Santos’ bond.
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She said she’s giving Santos until noon Friday to appeal her decision.
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Santos’ lawyer begged the judge not to identify his guarantors in a letter on Monday.
A federal judge said on Tuesday that she plans to reveal the identities of the people who backed indicted Rep. George Santos’ $500,000 bond, but she’s offering the GOP lawmaker one more chance to appeal before she does it.
In a sealed order in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Judge Anne Shields said she would reveal the identities of the people who signed Santos’ bond for pretrial release, according to a description of order in the court’s records system.
The judge’s ruling was based on two motions made my members of the news media, including Insider, that sought the unsealing of the names.
Shields said Santos and his lawyers have until noon on Friday to appeal her ruling.
In a letter to Shields on Monday, Santos, through his lawyer Joseph Murray, begged the judge not to identify his guarantors.
“Here in the instant case, the suretors are likely to suffer great distress, may lose their jobs, and God forbid, may suffer physical injury,” Murray wrote in the letter, which was obtained by Insider.
“My client would rather surrender to pretrial detainment than subject these suretors to what will inevitably come,” Murray added. Reached by Insider, both Murray and prosecutors declined to comment.
A grand jury indicted Santos in May on 13 criminal charges, including fraud, money laundering, and theft. Santos has pleaded not guilty. He was released on $500,000 bond last month.
Prosecutors allege that Santos spent campaign donations on personal expenses and collected unemployment benefits while collecting a six-figure salary.
Read the original article on Business Insider
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