Disgraced ex-congressman and alleged con man George Santos’s defense team is not going to be able to pick jurors based on how much they like him.
U.S. District Court Judge Joanna Seybert denied Santos’ request to have prospective jurors in his 23-count fraud trial fill out a questionnaire to determine how they felt about him during the latest pretrial hearing in the case Tuesday at Central Islip federal court.
Seybert criticized such motions, saying it makes cross examination harder, increases the likelihood of friction between jurors, and limits the kinds of questions that can be asked to jurors to help put together the best jury possible. She also said that political affiliation should not be a factor in choosing potential jurors, which surely it would be in the case of a former Republican congressman.
Not all hope was lost for Santos. Seybert did grant Santos’ request to keep jurors partially anonymous. The jurors will only be known to Santos’ team and the prosecution. According to Seybert, it’s in the interest of protecting their impartiality due to the level of public interest in the case.
Up to 800 jurors have been pooled for the trial, which is set to begin Sept. 9. Seybert said that 98 have been conclusively ruled out, while 338 have been marked as definitely available — a number she says will likely grow.
Santos faces 23 federal charges of campaign finance fraud. He was initially only charged with 13, but an additional 10 were added in October. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Because the charges are related to campaign finance, Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray, wants to call campaign treasurer Nancy Marks to the witness stand. But he must file a motion to do so, as Marks is currently facing charges herself related to the Santos campaign — conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States. Marks admitted in court to filing false numbers with the Federal Election Commission in order to meet benchmarks for national Republican Party approval. She pleaded guilty to those charges in October.
In March, Marks requested that her sentencing – which was originally set for April 12 – be delayed until November. The request was granted, potentially keeping her available as a witness.
The prosecution did not take a stance on calling Marks to the witness stand, but they indicated they have as many as 36 other witnesses in the trial. Seybert indicated she would like to see that number come down significantly as that amount of witnesses can be redundant.
George Santos’s Tenure in Congress
Santos was elected to Congress in November of 2022 as part of a red wave on Long Island that saw Republicans claim all four of Long Island’s congressional seats; Garbarino was re-elected to his seat in New York’s 2nd congressional district, D’Esposito defeated Laura Gillen to succeed Kathleen Rice in New York’s 4th congressional district, and LaLota defeated Bridget Fleming to succeed Lee Zeldin in New York’s 1st congressional district.
Santos defeated Democrat Robert Zimmerman to succeed outgoing Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-Glen Cove) in New York’s 3rd congressional district, which encompasses the towns of North Hempstead and Oyster Bay in Nassau County as well as a portion of northeast Queens.
However, in December of 2023, the New York Times exposed much of Santos’s claims about himself on the campaign trail as false. His campaign had claimed he attended Baruch College and New York University, but no such education records were found. He claimed to have Jewish heritage, but none was found. He had claimed to work for CitiGroup and Goldman Sachs, but no such employment records were found.
Other claims, including one that his mother worked at the World Trade Center and had survived the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, were found to be unverifiable by various media outlets.
He was expelled from the House on Dec. 1.
It was the third attempt to do so; one attempt had been done in May, brought forth by Democrats, and another was brought forth in November by Republicans, including his then-Long Island colleagues Reps. Anthony D’Esposito (R-Island Park) and Nick LaLota (R-Rocky Point).
However, when an investigation by the House Ethics Committee – which his one-time Long Island colleague Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-Sayville) is a member of – found that Santos had likely committed several crimes relating to campaign finance, it was enough to convince other members to expel him.
After he was ousted, a special election was held, and Suozzi won his seat back, defeating Nassau County Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip (R-Great Neck).
Santos then attempted to primary LaLota for his seat in March, but at the end of the month announced he was running a third party campaign. He ended that campaign in April after raising a whopping $0.
Related Story: No Plea Deal For George Santos Yet, As Trial Appears Set For September
