World

Indicted US Rep George Santos appeals ruling on keeping bail guarantors anonymous

2023.06.09 12:06


© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Representative George Santos (R-NY) is escorted by police as he leaves Central Islip Federal Courthouse in Central Islip, New York, U.S., May 10, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo

By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Indicted U.S. Representative George Santos on Friday appealed a ruling requiring that the identities of two people who guaranteed his $500,000 bail be disclosed, saying that releasing their names could threaten their safety.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert, Santos’ lawyer Joseph Murray said the New York congressman and his staff have been subjected to a “media frenzy and hateful attacks” since news of the indictment became public on May 9.

“It is reasonable to conclude that if defendant’s suretors are identified, that the attacks and harassment will commence against them too,” Murray wrote.

The letter suggested that the guarantors are family members, not lobbyists or political donors, and that their privacy interests justified anonymity given “the political temperature in this country and acts of political violence that occur.”

Santos, 34, is appealing a June 6 ruling by a federal magistrate judge to identify his bail guarantors.

Their identities had been sought by at least 11 media organizations, which cited the public interest in their release.

Jeremy Chase, a lawyer for most of those media organizations, declined to comment. The New York Times, which also sought the names, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, whose office is prosecuting Santos and had not objected to identifying the names, declined to comment.

Santos has expressed a willingness to go to jail if his guarantors were to be publicly identified.

The congressman has pleaded not guilty to a 13-count indictment accusing him of fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds.

Source link

Related Articles

Back to top button
bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) $ 68,869.45 0.49%
ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) $ 2,436.94 0.74%
tether
Tether (USDT) $ 0.999757 0.02%
bnb
BNB (BNB) $ 559.76 0.45%
solana
Solana (SOL) $ 162.08 1.01%
usd-coin
USDC (USDC) $ 1.00 0.01%
xrp
XRP (XRP) $ 0.512287 1.34%
dogecoin
Dogecoin (DOGE) $ 0.168452 12.10%
staked-ether
Lido Staked Ether (STETH) $ 2,437.13 0.70%
tron
TRON (TRX) $ 0.16244 1.59%
cardano
Cardano (ADA) $ 0.33173 0.61%
the-open-network
Toncoin (TON) $ 4.61 4.68%
shiba-inu
Shiba Inu (SHIB) $ 0.000018 5.70%
wrapped-steth
Wrapped stETH (WSTETH) $ 2,885.66 0.78%
wrapped-bitcoin
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) $ 68,713.41 0.36%
avalanche-2
Avalanche (AVAX) $ 23.19 0.42%
weth
WETH (WETH) $ 2,437.25 0.74%
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 338.99 1.59%
chainlink
Chainlink (LINK) $ 10.53 0.47%
usds
USDS (USDS) $ 0.994891 0.65%
leo-token
LEO Token (LEO) $ 6.07 0.34%
polkadot
Polkadot (DOT) $ 3.83 1.98%
sui
Sui (SUI) $ 1.93 3.53%
litecoin
Litecoin (LTC) $ 67.00 1.19%
near
NEAR Protocol (NEAR) $ 3.70 2.39%
wrapped-eeth
Wrapped eETH (WEETH) $ 2,562.78 0.79%
aptos
Aptos (APT) $ 8.18 1.00%
uniswap
Uniswap (UNI) $ 6.91 0.55%
pepe
Pepe (PEPE) $ 0.000008 1.46%
internet-computer
Internet Computer (ICP) $ 7.13 0.18%
dai
Dai (DAI) $ 1.00 0.04%
bittensor
Bittensor (TAO) $ 428.39 0.80%
fetch-ai
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) $ 1.16 2.70%
monero
Monero (XMR) $ 159.26 0.89%
ethena-usde
Ethena USDe (USDE) $ 1.00 0.06%
stellar
Stellar (XLM) $ 0.092397 1.79%
whitebit
WhiteBIT Coin (WBT) $ 18.95 0.39%
ethereum-classic
Ethereum Classic (ETC) $ 17.94 1.52%
kaspa
Kaspa (KAS) $ 0.106164 2.41%
first-digital-usd
First Digital USD (FDUSD) $ 0.999048 0.05%
polygon-ecosystem-token
POL (ex-MATIC) (POL) $ 0.298957 0.15%
blockstack
Stacks (STX) $ 1.50 3.76%
okb
OKB (OKB) $ 37.40 0.80%
dogwifcoin
dogwifhat (WIF) $ 2.04 0.34%
filecoin
Filecoin (FIL) $ 3.34 0.50%
crypto-com-chain
Cronos (CRO) $ 0.071909 0.47%
aave
Aave (AAVE) $ 129.62 0.72%
arbitrum
Arbitrum (ARB) $ 0.480709 0.31%
mantle
Mantle (MNT) $ 0.55602 0.37%
immutable-x
Immutable (IMX) $ 1.08 0.27%