Politics & Government
Prosecutors Want Santos Pre-Trial Delay Request Denied: US Attorney
Santos' request ... [could] improperly influence both the jury pool and potential trial witnesses," U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said.
CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — Prosecutors are responding to former Congressman George Santos' request for a 30-day extension to the pre-trial motion deadline for his federal corruption trial.
"Santos’s request to de-designate is a transparent effort to litigate this case in the media, not in the courtroom, and to improperly influence both the jury pool and potential trial witnesses," Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, said in a filing on Wednesday. "The court should not condone such a tactic."
Peace added: "For all these reasons, the court should deny Santos’s motion, keep the pre-trial motion schedule intact, and enforce the protective order as the parties and the court jointly intended it."
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Santos is charged with 23 counts that include wire fraud, theft of public funds, conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. He pleaded not guilty to the charges. Santos' next court appearance is tentatively scheduled for August.
He was expelled from Congress in December.
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