Judge denies George Santos’ request for jury pool questionnaire

NEW YORK ( NewsNation ) — A federal judge has denied former U.S. Rep. George Santos ‘ motion for potential jurors in his fraud case to be questioned about their opinions of him but granted his request for a partially anonymous jury.

The judge called the questionnaires one of the “worst” and most “inefficient” mechanisms during a pretrial hearing Tuesday.

NewsNation confirmed that a pool of 348 jurors will be questioned, and jury selection is expected to last one week. Opening statements are scheduled for Sept. 16.

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

What happened in Tuesday’s hearing?

Santos’ request to question potential jurors was among several issues a judge considered during Tuesday’s hearing in federal court on Long Island.

His lawyers argued the request was necessary due to extensive negative media coverage surrounding Santos, who was expelled from Congress in December after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” he’d broken the law and exploited his public position for his own profit.

Santos’ lawyers have cited more than 1,500 articles and a “ Saturday Night Live ” skit. They also note similar questionnaires were used in other high-profile federal cases in New York, including the trial of notorious drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

Prosecutors opposed the request, calling it a delay tactic and noting the media scrutiny is largely Santos’ own doing.

Santos’ lawyers also asked in their legal filing last week for the court to consider a partially anonymous jury for the upcoming trial.

Prosecutors said they don’t oppose the request.

What’s Santos charged with?

Last month, federal Judge Joanna Seybert turned down Santos’ request to dismiss three of the 23 charges he faces.

The aggravated identity theft charges pertain to allegations that Santos used campaign donors’ credit card information to make repeated contributions they hadn’t authorized. Prosecutors say he also tried to hide the true source of the money — and evade campaign contribution limits — by listing the donations as coming from some of his relatives and associates, without their assent.

The theft of public funds charge relates to the alleged unemployment fraud.

Santos’ lawyers said the charge improperly combined multiple alleged criminal schemes and transactions. Courts have said in other cases that such combination isn’t allowed for various reasons, including the possibility that jurors could convict on the charge while believing a defendant guilty of only part of it.

Prosecutors in Santos’ case said the theft of public funds charge against him alleges “a single continuing scheme.”

Santos is slated to go on trial in Central Islip on New York’s Long Island.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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