NEW YORK (AP) – Rep. George Santos’ lawyer said Monday that the accused New York Republican would risk prison time to protect the identities of people who signed the $500,000 bond that allowed his release. provisional release.
The lawyer, Joseph Murray, urged a judge to deny a media request to release the names of Santos’ guarantors, suggesting they could “suffer great distress,” including possible job losses and physical harm, if they are publicly identified.
“My client would rather surrender to pretrial detention than subject these insurers to what will inevitably come,” Murray wrote in a letter to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields.
Murray asked to give them time to withdraw as co-signers if he decides to unseal the underwriters’ names, which Shields kept off the public record at the attorney’s request.
Murray said he, Santos and Santos’ staff have been receiving threatening and harassing calls and messages, including death threats. The attorney said he received a call Friday from someone yelling, “Who paid Santos’ bail?” and said he worries Santos’ critics are “waiting to pounce” on people who support his release.
“We truly care about their health, safety and well-being,” Murray wrote.
Santos pleaded not guilty on May 10 to a 13-count indictment that accused him of defrauding donors, stealing from his campaign, lying to Congress about being a millionaire and cheating to collect unemployment benefits he didn’t deserve . He will be back in court on June 30.
The 34-year-old, who represents parts of Queens and Long Island, has defied calls to resign and said he will not abandon his bid for a second term.
The prosecutor’s office has not commented on the unsealing request.
In a letter last week, a lawyer for the media urged the judge to release the names of Santos’ bail bondsmen, citing a “compelling public interest in maintaining as much transparency as possible in these proceedings.”
The New York Times first wrote to Shields on May 23 to request that their names be sealed. Other media outlets, including The Associated Press, joined the fray a few days later.
Separately, the House Ethics Committee wrote to Santos on May 16 asking him to identify the people who co-signed his bond.
Murray said Santos initially lined up three financially responsible co-signers as sureties, but one dropped out and the other two failed to appear on her complaint. That forced them to make “other confidential arrangements” to secure Santos’ release, Murray said.
