DOJ raises Santos plea deal speculation with hearing delay request
Reese Gorman
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The Department of Justice asked to delay Thursday’s hearing for Rep. George Santos’s (R-NY) criminal case, saying the parties are discussing “possible paths forward” and raising speculation that a plea deal might be coming.
Santos has previously said that he would not accept any plea deal, but according to a letter filed by the DOJ on Tuesday, the two sides “wish to have additional time to continue” discussions, with a request that the status conference be moved to Oct. 27.
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While Santos in the past has rejected the idea of a plea deal, he did leave the door open to it last month in an interview with NewsNation.
“I’m not making any assertions right now,” he said when asked about it on-air. “Like I said earlier, right now the answer is ‘no,’ but you just never know what life is going to come at you.”
Santos is charged with 13 counts: 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, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
He has pleaded not guilty.
On X, the social platform formerly known as Twitter, Santos seemed to pour cold water on the assumptions.
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“Word of the day: Speculation Meaning: The forming of a theory or conjecture without firm evidence,” he said in the post.
A spokesperson for Santos did not respond to a request for comment.