George Santos fraud trial begins next month with an anonymous jury

HEADQUARTERS ISLIP, NY — The fraud trial of former U.S. Representative George Santos, set to begin in a few weeks, is coming into focus after a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the identities of the jurors will be kept secret from the public.

However, when they arrive for jury selection on September 9, they will not be required to fill out a written questionnaire asking for their opinion of Santos, 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 slow down the process.

She said personally questioning each potential juror would give her and both sides the opportunity to ask more varied and in-depth questions and thus obtain more truthful answers.

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

Santos has pleaded not guilty to a number 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 process wherever possible.

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

Santos, wearing a blue suit, declined to speak to reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing, the last expected hearing before trial.

But when asked if he believed his client would receive a fair trial, Santos' lawyer Robert Fantone said: “I think we will get everything done.”

In court, Santos' lawyers rejected the prosecutor's allegations made in earlier lawsuits that the prosecutor was not fully participating in the required pre-trial document exchange, known as discovery.

Prosecutors said this month they had turned over more than 1.3 million pages of documents, while defense attorneys submitted just five. But under pressure from the judge, Santos's lawyers insisted they had turned over every document in their possession.

“We're not stonewalling,” said Joe Murray, another of Santos' lawyers. “Surveillance litigation is not my style.”

The New York Republican's lawyers had argued in recent court filings that a questionnaire on the “knowledge, beliefs and prejudices” of potential jurors was necessary because Santos had been covered so negatively in the media. He was expelled from Congress in December after an ethics investigation found “overwhelming evidence” that he had broken the law and used his public position for his own benefit.

They cited more than 1,500 articles from major news outlets and a skit about Santos on “Saturday Night Live.” They also noted that similar questionnaires have been used in other high-profile federal cases in New York, including the trial of notorious drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

“Essentially, Santos has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion,” the defense memo filed last week said.

Prosecutors, however, expressed their opposition in a brief on Friday, arguing that Santos' request was merely a delaying tactic because the trial date was set more than nine months ago and about 850 potential jurors had already been subpoenaed.

They argued that the public perception of Santos was “largely of his own making” as he spent months “courting the press and garnering media attention.”

Seybert on Tuesday granted Santos' request for a partially anonymous jury, in which the identity of each juror will be known only to the judge, the two parties and their attorneys. Prosecutors had previously said they did not object to the measure because the case was making headlines.

Government lawyers also want to admit into evidence some of the lies Santos spread during his campaign. Before he was elected to represent parts of Queens and Long Island in 2022, he falsely claimed he had graduated from both New York University and Baruch College and worked at financial giants Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

Prosecutors argue that these blanket falsifications are “inextricably linked to the charges against him.”

Seybert did not immediately rule on the motion on Tuesday, and Santos' lawyers declined to comment.

Last month, a federal judge denied Santos' request to drop three of the 23 charges against him. Santos dropped his futile attempt to return to Congress as an independent in April.

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Follow Philip Marcelo on twitter.com/philmarcelo.