Fraud trial of George Santos to begin next month with an anonymous jury

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. -- The fraud trial against former U.S. Rep. George Santos, slated to start in a matter of weeks, is coming into focus after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that jurors will have their identities kept secret from the public.

They won’t, however, be required to fill out a written questionnaire gauging their opinions of Santos when they arrive for jury selection Sept. 9, as his lawyers had requested.

Judge Joanna Seybert said during a brief hearing in federal court on Long Island that she agreed with the government’s assessment that a questionnaire would only bog the proceedings down.

She said questioning each potential juror in person would allow her and both sides to ask more varied and probing questions to elicit more truthful responses.

Prosecutors told the judge the trial could last three weeks because they expect to call at least three dozen witnesses, including some victims of Santos' alleged crimes.

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

Seybert urged both sides to work together to “streamline” the proceedings where possible.

“Make me hopeful. Seriously,” she said. “Sit down and discuss what is absolutely necessary.”

Santos, who was dressed in a blue suit, declined to speak with reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing, the last expected before the trial.

But when asked whether he believed his client could receive a fair trial, Santos’ lawyer Robert Fantone said, “I think we’re going to be alright.”

In court, Santos’ lawyers pushed back at claims prosecutors made in prior legal filings that they’re not participating fully in the required pretrial document-sharing process known as discovery.

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

“We’re not stonewalling,” said Joe Murray, another Santos lawyer. “Trial by ambush is not how I operate.”

The New York Republican’s lawyers had argued in recent court filings that a questionnaire addressing potential jurors’ "knowledge, beliefs, and preconceptions” was needed because of the extensive negative media coverage surrounding Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” he had broken the law and exploited his public position for his own profit.

They cited more than 1,500 articles by major news outlets and a " Saturday Night Live " skit about Santos. They also noted similar questionnaires were used in other high-profile federal cases in New York, including the trial of notorious drug kingpin 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, voicing their opposition in a legal brief Friday, argued Santos’ request was simply a delay tactic, as the trial date was set more than nine months ago and some 850 prospective jurors have already been summoned.

The public perception of Santos, they argued, is also “largely a product of his own making” as he’s spent months “courting the press and ginning up” media attention.

Seybert on Tuesday granted Santos' request for a partially anonymous jury in which the individual jurors’ identities will be known only by the judge, the two sides and their attorneys. Prosecutors had previously said they didn't object to the measure, given the case's high-profile nature.

Lawyers for the government are also seeking to admit as evidence some of the lies Santos made during his campaign. Before he was elected in 2022 to represent parts of Queens and Long Island, he made false claims that he graduated from both New York University and Baruch College and that he had worked at financial giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

Prosecutors argue that the wholesale fabrications are “inextricably intertwined” with the criminal charges he faces.

Seybert didn’t immediately rule on that request Tuesday, and Santos’ lawyers have declined to comment on it.

Last month, the federal judge turned down Santos’ request to dismiss three of the 23 charges he faces. Santos dropped a long-shot bid to return to Congress as an independent in April.

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Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.