FAMILY TIES

George Santos’ Family Put Up Bail Money—At Least Partially

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has been working to conceal who put up his bail. Turns out, his family was responsible for at least a part of it.

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is still desperately trying to keep the world from finding out who fronted a $500,000 bond to bail him out of federal jail after his arrest last month on fraud charges—but new court records indicate at least one of them might have been a family member. His defense lawyer, Joseph W. Murray, wrote to the federal judge overseeing the congressman’s criminal case on Friday, seeking to change the judge’s mind at the last-minute after she decided to disclose records that have been sought by journalists ever since he was released. The letter revealed that one of the people who initially planned to post his expensive bond reneged at the last second because of all the heat from the news stories of his arrest. But the letter also indicates that some or all of the people have family relationships with him. In his pleas to the judge to keep some of the information secret, Murray wrote, “To the extent that it may be possible to unredact a portion of the sealed judicial bond records or proceedings to reveal the existence of a ‘family’ relationship between defendant and the suretors without identifying the name or type of family member, defendant would have no objection.” Santos’ lawyer previously said the congressman would rather go to jail than give up the names.