The federal fraud trial against former US 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 they expect the trial could last three weeks because they expect to call at least three dozen witnesses, including some victims of Santos’ alleged crimes.
Seybert urged both sides to work together to limit redundant testimony and “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 all right.”
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.
The New York Republican’s lawyers had argued in recent court filings that the written form “concerning 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.
Santos’ lawyers had also asked in their legal filing last week for the court to consider an anonymous jury for the trial. They said the individual jurors’ identities should be known only by the judge, the two sides and their attorneys because of the case’s high-profile nature.
Seybert granted the request after prosecutors previously confirmed they didn’t object.
But 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 said.
Prosecutors argue that the wholesale fabrications about his background 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.
