Fraud trial against George Santos to begin in September – Telemundo New York (47)

NEW YORK – The fraud trial against former US Rep George Santosscheduled to begin in a few weeks, gained prominence after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that jurors will keep their identities secret.

However, they will not be required to fill out a written questionnaire to gauge their opinion of Santos when they arrive for jury selection on September 9, as their lawyers have requested.

Judge Joanna Seybert said at a brief hearing in federal court on Long Island that she agreed with the government’s assessment that an inquest would only stall matters.

She said that questioning each juror personally would allow her and both sides to ask more varied and deeper questions to get more truthful answers.

Prosecutors told the judge that the trial could last three weeks because they plan to call at least three dozen witnesses, including some victims of crimes under accused Santos, to testify.

Santos pleaded not guilty to a series of financial crimes, including lying to Congress about his wealth, collecting unemployment benefits while working and using campaign donations to pay for personal expenses such as designer clothes.

Seybert urged both parties to work together to “streamline” the procedures as much as possible.

“Give me hope. Seriously,” he said. “Sit down and talk about what’s really necessary.”

Santos, wearing a blue suit, declined to speak to reporters outside court after the hearing, the last scheduled before the trial.

But when asked if he thought his client would get a fair trial, Santos’ lawyer Robert Fantone said, “I think everything is going to be fine enough.

In court, Santos’ lawyers rejected claims by prosecutors in earlier legal filings that they are not fully participating in the mandatory pre-trial document sharing process, known as discovery.

Prosecutors this month said they have turned over more than 1.3 million pages of records, while defense lawyers have turned over just five pages. But when pressed by the judge, Santos’ lawyers said they have turned over all the documents in their possession.

“We’re not avoiding anything,” said Joe Murray, another Santos attorney. “Rag tests are not my way.”

Lawyers for the New York Republican had argued in recent court filings that a questionnaire that addressed jurors’ “knowledge, beliefs and prejudices” was needed because of negative media coverage of Santos. , who was expelled from Congress in December after an ethics investigation found “substantial evidence” that he had broken the law and taken advantage of his public position for personal gain.

They cited more than 1,500 articles from mainstream media and a “Saturday Night Live” sketch about Santos. They also noted that similar questionnaires have been used in other high-profile federal cases in New York, including the trial of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

“For all intents and purposes, Santos has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion,” read the defense memo filed last week.

But prosecutors, who countered in a legal brief Friday, argued that Santos’ request was merely a delaying tactic, as the trial date was set nine months ago and about 850 jurors have already been summoned.

Public opinion of Santos, they said, is also “largely of his own making,” as he has spent months “courting the media and garnering media attention.”

On Tuesday, Seybert agreed to Santos’ request for a partially anonymous jury in which only the judge, both sides and their attorneys will know the identities of individual jurors. Prosecutors had previously said that they were not opposed to the move, given how prominent the case was.

Government lawyers are also trying to get some of the lies told by Santos in his campaign to be admitted. Before being elected in 2022 to represent parts of Queens and Long Island, he made false claims that he graduated from New York University and Baruch College and had worked at financial giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

Prosecutors say the wholesale lies are “completely intertwined” with the criminal charges he faces.

Seybert did not immediately comment on that request Tuesday, and Santos’ lawyers have declined to comment.

Last month, the federal judge denied Santos’ request to dismiss three of the 23 charges he faces. Santos abandoned an unlikely bid to return to Congress as an independent in April.