The Facts
Republican congressman George Santos (R-N.Y.) has signed a deal with Brazilian authorities to confess to theft in order to drop the criminal charges from a case in 2008.
On Thursday, Santos agreed to confess to the charges and pay nearly $5K in fines in exchange for having the charges dropped.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
George Santos is a joke. Not only is he a compulsive liar, but he's also a criminal, having just confessed in court to theft. It doesn't matter that the Brazilian charges against him have been dropped, he faces an additional slew of legal and ethical problems in the U.S. GOP leaders may ignore this fiasco in order to hold on to their small legislative majority, but one thing is for sure, Santos is not doing the party any favors.
Republican narrative
While it may be controversial, no law stops Santos from staying in Congress while fighting criminal fraud and money laundering charges. Even if he is convicted he could still run for reelection. The Constitution doesn’t bar convicted people from running for office. Despite the allegations against him and the charges he faces, in the U.S., people are presumed innocent until proven guilty. We will just have to wait and see what happens.
