CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CN) — George Santos, the Republican congressman whose fabricated resume and background spurred judicial and legislative investigations, is facing federal charges in New York, news outlets reported Tuesday evening.
The charges in the Eastern District of New York remain sealed, but Santos could appear in court as early as Wednesday. A spokesperson for the district's U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment after CNN first reported on the charges.
In January Santos was hit with a civil fraud complaint by a nonpartisan watchdog group accusing him of hiding the source of more than $700,000 in campaign funds, using straw donors and fudging spending records in violation of federal campaign finance laws.
The 34-year-old, who represents northwestern Queens and the northern half of Long Island’s Nassau County, is also under investigation by a congressional ethics panel and the Nassau County District Attorney's Office.
Revelations that Santos had invented large portions of his educational and personal background came out only after the November election that put him in office.
Among the fabrications to which Santos has admitted, he falsely claimed to have graduated from Baruch College in New York and lied about working at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. He also misrepresented his ancestral and religious background, claiming to be both Jewish and Catholic, and saying the September 11, 2001, attacks "claimed my mothers life" [sic] when she in fact passed away in 2016.
Though he came clean on the flat-out lies about his work and schooling, Santos downplayed other fabrications as a "poor choice of words." He jokingly referred to himself as "Jew-ish," despite previously calling himself an "American Jew" whose grandparents survived the Holocaust.
His lies rose to the level of "Saturday Night Live" parody with actor Bowen Yang playing Santos in a "Weekend Update" interview in January.
Despite calls for his resignation that poured in from his Republican colleagues, Santos kept his seat, though he stepped down from committee appointments. In April Santos announced that he plans to run for office again in 2024.
Representatives for Santos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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