-- The Long Island congressman who fabricated his qualifications then minimized the lies to the court of public opinion now has to defend himself in federal court, and he says he's ready to do it. faced a judge Wednesday on a 13-count indictment alleging he defrauded supporters and
Congress in multiple schemes. Santos, whose admitted web of lies got him elected but had bucked calls to give up the seat he won as a result, now has to answer to federal criminal charges. "This is the beginning of the ability for me to address and defend myself," Santos said. "We have an indictment, we have the information that the government wants to come after me on, and I'm going to comply. I've been compliant throughout this entire process." WITCH HUNT! Santos called the case a "witch hunt." "The reality is, it's a witch hunt. Because it makes no sense that in four months, four months, five months, I'm indicted. You have Joe Biden's entire family receiving deposits, nine family members receiving money from foreign destinations into their bank accounts. It's been years of exposing... and yet no investigation is launched into them. I'm going to fight my battle. I'm going to deliver. I'm going to fight the witch hunt. I'm going to take care of clearing my name. And I look forward to doing that," Santos said after he left court. In court, looking grim-faced, he pleaded not guilty to the 19-page indictment, answering the judge's questions with "Yes, ma'am." Outside court, he insisted he will be exonerated. The charges - fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and false statements - center on what the U.S. attorney calls "fraudulent schemes and brazen misrepresentations," that Santos used "repeated dishonesty and deception to ascend to the halls of Congress and enrich himself." "He used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives," the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of
New York said in a statement. Specifically, that he: Santos denied all of it. "During the pandemic, it wasn't very clear. I don't know where the government is getting its information," Santos said. "This is about innocent until proven guilty. I have my right to fight for my innocence, as the government has the right to try to find me guilty." Cons Constituents shared relief on
Social Media. "We are finally feeling 'heard in the third'," wrote one, who called the indictment karma. Vocal critic Josh Lafazan, who ran for the seat, said now it is time to end the national nightmare of Santos and expel him. "Today is vindication. Today confirming what we have been saying for five months. Not only is Santos a liar, but he broke the public trust, and he likely violated federal law in the process," Lafazan said. "I've never met anyone who's a total, total liar," former
Republican Long Island Congressman Peter King said. "To me, the Ethics Committee has enough there to recommend him being expelled, and they can send that to the House and that can be voted on within a matter of weeks ... He could be gone by June or July." Santos is free on $500,000 bond. The judge said he will be allowed to leave the state, at Santos' request, to fundraise for re-election. Santos is already talking about the future. "This has been an experience for a book," Santos said. So what happened to the other irregularities? Where got his sudden wealth to loan his campaign $700,000, campaign expenses all listed at $199.99 - there are still multiple other investigations. The current charges include seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. They carry a maximum penalty of 20 years, if convicted. Santos is due back in court June 30. Hours after leaving court, Santos called CBS2 political reporter Marcia Kramer to discuss what he called "an interesting day." He told Kramer he was ready to fight his battles and said he wasn't scared about the indictment. Santos admitted he thought the government could have gone for more serious charges, although he also said he thought they were grasping at straws. Calls are intensifying for him to be removed from office. "I thought he should resign a long time ago. I didn't think he should ever be here," Rep.
Nancy Pelosi said. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said he would only call for Santos to resign if he was found guilty. "If a person is indicted, they're not on committees. They have the right to vote, but have to go to trial," McCarthy said. "Like every
American, you have your day in court." While leaving White Plains on Wednesday, President
Joe Biden was asked if Santos should be expelled. "That's for Congress to decide," he said. "He should just do the right thing and put this district out of its misery and move on," Gov. Kathy Hochul said. "He's an embarrassment to our party," Republican Sen. Mitt Romney said. "He needs to go right away. I hope that he resigns," Republican Rep. Nicholas LaLota said. Legal troubles might not stop here. He's still under investigation in several jurisdictions as well as the House Ethics Committee. During his brief time in office, Santos has been accused of , , and . Long Island voters and lawmakers, meanwhile, have been . In a statement, Concerned Citizens of NY-03 said: "Mr. Santos' breathtaking scope of lies has left his constituents -- and all New Yorkers -- gasping for air and calling for accountability. Now that the Eastern District of New York has appropriately indicted him, Mr. Santos should resign. It's been clear for a long time that the voters have been defrauded, and Mr. Santos' seat in Congress is tantamount to an ill gotten gain: he should not be allowed to profit from the fruits of his deception. Voters deserve a representative who doesn't lie and deceive their way into power, and unfortunately they have waited too long for Mr. Santos to do the right thing and resign," Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause/NY said. "There's nothing worse than having a candidate that integrity is not intact, so I really hope that he can explain this for the sake of many people," said Evi Angelakis, a former friend of Santos'. Santos made a promise this past weekend. "I won't debate what the investigation entails until it's concluded, and I'll come back on your show and give you a full detail of it," Santos said. Even if convicted of a crime, he can only be removed from office if two-thirds of the House of Representatives vote to expel him. Carolyn Gusoff has covered some of the most high profile news stories in the
New York City area and is best known as a trusted, tenacious, consistent and caring voice of Long Island's concerns.