The names of two people who guaranteed the $500,000 bond of embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) last month will be revealed Thursday, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.
U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert in Central Islip, New York said the names will be made public at 12pm ET Thursday.
Earlier this month, Santos’ attorneys argued against revealing the guarantors’ names because they “are likely to suffer great distress, may lose their jobs and, God forbid, may suffer physical injury.”
In a court filing attorney Joseph W. Murray further asserted that Santos “would rather surrender to pretrial detainment than subject these suretors to what will inevitably come.”
Federal judge Anne Y. Shields in Central Islip had released Santos on the bond on May 10 after he pleaded not guilty to 13 criminal counts at federal court in New York’s Eastern District.
The 13 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.
Santos’ bond is unsecured, meaning that his cosigners didn’t have to post any money up front. However, they could be forced to pay the full amount if he doesn’t comply with his release conditions or fails to show up for court.
Citing the First Amendment as well as common law right to access information, a consortium of media organizations had filed their motion to unseal the records last month. Prosecutors have not taken a position on the media’s request.
If he’s convicted, Santos—who filed for reelection in 2024 on March 14— faces up to 20 years in prison for the wire fraud charges alone.
