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‘He Needs to Shut Up Completely’: Legal Expert Blasts Santos for Claiming During Pandemic the Law ‘Wasn’t Really Clear’

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A well-known law professor and political commentator is blasting U.S. Rep. George Santos, after the New York Republican congressman who was indicted Tuesday and arraigned earlier Wednesday on 13 federal criminal charges held a press conference and claimed his “defense” is that during the height of the coronavirus pandemic laws weren’t very clear.

Santos, who remains a sitting U.S. Congressman and has filed to run for re-election, was arraigned on federal charges which include “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,” according to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.

After being released on a $500,000 bond, Santos spoke to reporters. At one point a reporter asked him about one of the lesser-known allegations.

Federal prosecutors are alleging that during the COVID-19 pandemic Santos, while employed at a job allegedly making $120,000 a year, and running for Congress, filed for and received unemployment benefits totaling over $24,000, as NCRM detailed in a report Wednesday morning.

READ MORE: ‘100% MAGA’ Alabama Senator: Democrats Call Them ‘White Nationalists’ – ‘I Call Them Americans’

“At the height of the pandemic in 2020, George Santos allegedly applied for and received unemployment benefits while he was employed and running for Congress,” Nassau County, New York District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said in a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “As charged in the indictment, the defendant’s alleged behavior continued during his second run for Congress when he pocketed campaign contributions and used that money to pay down personal debts and buy designer clothing.”

At Santos’ press conference ABC News’ Rachel Scott asked the indicted GOP congressman how he could file “for unemployment benefits when you had a job making 100,000 a year?”

“Rachel, this is part of my defense,” replied Santos, standing in front of a large handheld sign that read “lies” (video below). “This is inaccurate information. And I will get to clear my name on this. During the pandemic it wasn’t very clear. I don’t understand where the government’s getting their information, but I will present my facts.”

“Prosecutors say that you got over $20,000 in unemployment benefits, sir,” the re[porter responded. “How is that acceptable?”

“Ma’am,” Santos replied, “like I said, my employment was changed during the time. I don’t understand where the government’s coming from. I’ll present my defense.”

READ MORE: Kevin McCarthy’s Long History of Protecting George Santos: Now He Won’t Move to Expel Until ‘Outcome’ of Trial (Video)

Harry Litman, a former U.S. Attorney and Deputy Assistant Attorney General who is also the legal affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times, suggested Santos should stop talking to the press, and mocked the congressman’s “defense.”

“Wasn’t clear that you couldn’t get unemployment benefits if you were working and lied saying you weren’t??” Litman tweeted. “He’s now stuck with this nonsense explanation.”

“He needs to shut up completely,” Litman added. “Look for him to retreat soon to the ‘can’t talk about pending charges’ line.”

Watch Santos below or at this link:

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Watch Live: President Biden to Deliver Rare Address to the Nation on Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Agreement

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President Joe Biden will make a rare address to the nation Friday evening, to share with the American people the results of successful negotiations with Republicans to avert what could have been not only a national but global economic disaster had the debt ceiling crisis not been averted.

Biden is being credited for smart and savvy negotiations while keeping out of the public eye and allowing Republicans to control the narrative, while steering the agreement to one best for the American people.

Even Speaker Kevin McCarthy “conceded that he had been impressed with Biden’s negotiating team during the talks, calling them ‘very professional, very smart’ and ‘very tough at the same time,'” HuffPost reported Wednesday.

Many extremist House Republicans were hoping for a default, and over the past several weeks they made clear they did not understand what the consequences would have been.

RELATED: ‘Objectively Amazing’: Economists Cheer ‘Extraordinarily Robust’ and ‘Close to Unprecedented’ Jobs Report

Watch President Biden below at 7 PM ET, or at this link.

RELATED: ‘Republicans Got Outsmarted by a President Who Can’t Find His Pants’: GOP Congresswoman Throws Debt Ceiling Tantrum

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FBI Agrees to Brief Top House Oversight Leaders on Unsubstantiated Allegation Against Biden

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Under threat of a contempt of Congress referral against FBI Director Chris Wray, the Bureau has agreed to allow a briefing for the top Republican and top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee on a years-old unsubstantiated allegation, which has been called a second-hand tip, accusing then-Vice President Joe Biden of a supposed wrongful act.

The existence of the lone, unclassified document, called an FD-1023 form, until recently was not even verified by the FBI.

Chairman Jim Comer (R-KY) and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) “will receive a briefing from the FBI and review the FD-1023 form behind closed doors in a secure SCIF, a sensitive compartmented information facility at the Capitol rather than going to FBI headquarters, as the bureau had initially offered,” CNN on Friday reported.

READ MORE: Classified Pentagon ‘War Plans’ Document Trump Bragged About in Audio Recording Is Missing: Report

“While the document contains the allegations made by an unnamed whistleblower, it doesn’t provide proof that they are true, people briefed on the matter said. The FBI and prosecutors who previously reviewed the information couldn’t corroborate the claims.”

Chairman Comer, who has been accused of using his position on the powerful Oversight Committee aid Donald Trump’s efforts to regain the presidency, late last month appeared to validate that accusation.

The unverified FD-1023 form “has origins in a tranche of documents that Rudy Giuliani provided to the Justice Department in 2020, people briefed on the matter said,” CNN notes.

“According to Comer,” CNN adds, the FD-1023 form, “dated June 30, 2020, says [a] foreign national allegedly paid $5 million to receive a desired policy outcome, based on unclassified and legally protected whistleblower disclosures.”

On Thursday, U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who has teamed up with Chairman Comer, came under fire for admitting he does not care whether or not the accusations against President Biden are true or not, he wants to pursue them regardless.

READ MORE: Classified Pentagon ‘War Plans’ Document Trump Bragged About in Audio Recording Is Missing: Report

CNN earlier this week reported that even then-Attorney General Bill Barr questioned the validity of the alleged document.

“The allegations of wrongdoing by the then-vice president, many originating from sources in Ukraine, were dubious enough that Attorney General William Barr in early 2020 directed that they be reviewed by a US attorney in Pittsburgh, in part because Barr was concerned that Giuliani’s document tranche could taint the ongoing Hunter Biden investigation overseen by the Delaware US attorney.”

Ranking Member Raskin, a former constitutional law professor, in a statement this week characterized the FD-1023 as containing “unsubstantiated, second-hand claims,” and called it a “tip.”

Raskin has also accused Comer of being determined to send a contempt of Congress referral for Director Wray to the U.S. Dept. of Justice.

“It is increasingly clear that Committee Republicans have always planned to hold Director Wray in contempt of Congress to distract from the obvious fact that they do not have evidence to support their unfounded accusations against President Biden. This latest political maneuver underscores Chairman Comer’s determination to use the Committee to help former President Trump’s reelection efforts and pander to extreme MAGA Republicans.”

Last month, The New Republic reported, the “House GOP accused Joe Biden and his family … of engaging in business with foreign entities—but were unable to provide any actual evidence linking the president to any wrongdoing.”

“House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer released a 65-page memo detailing a sprawling investigation into Biden and some of his relatives, particularly his son Hunter Biden. Nowhere in the massive document was there a specific allegation of a crime committed by Biden or any of his relatives.”

 

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Decision to Not Charge Pence in Classified Docs Probe Is ‘Prelude to DOJ Seeking Charges Against Trump’: Legal Expert

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Mike Pence will not be charged for being in possession of classified documents, found in his Indiana home, the U.S. Dept. of Justice reportedly has told the former Trump vice president in a letter. Some legal experts believe DOJ is wrapping up its investigations into classified documents found in Pence’s and President Joe Biden’s homes to clear the decks for a decision to seek charges against ex-president Donald Trump over his unlawful removal of hundreds of classified documents from the White House, and subsequent refusal to return them even after being served with a subpoena.

“The decision comes ahead of Pence’s planned announcement next week that he will run for president in 2024,” CNN reports, noting it has obtained and verified a copy of the DOJ letter. “It allows Pence to offer an additional contrast between himself and former President Donald Trump, his political rival who’s under serious investigation by the Justice Department and others.”

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, an MSNBC/NBC News contributor and professor of law, responded to the news Pence will not be charged.

“This is what happens when you voluntarily return items to the govt, don’t claim they’re yours, hide them & lie about,” she said, clearly referring to Donald Trump’s actions. “Also: showing them off to others.”

RELATED: Former DOJ Official Says Audio of Trump Admitting to Keeping ‘War Plans’ Makes it ‘Inconceivable’ He Will Not Be Charged

“Confident this is a prelude to DOJ seeking charges against Trump for those reasons,” she added.

NYU Law professor of Law Ryan Goodman, a former U.S. Dept. of Defense Special Counsel, apparently agrees.

“Discover classified documents at your home after leaving the White House, immediately acknowledge and turn the documents over to the FBI/Archives, and look what happens,” he writes.

Earlier this week, responding to news Special Counsel Jack Smith has an audio recording of Donald Trump admitting he kept a classified Pentagon document apparently detailing a possible attack against Iran, Goodman reiterated his belief that the ex-president will face not only obstruction charges but charges under the Espionage Act.

“War plans are among the most highly classified documents. Puts pressure on DOJ to indict, and a jury to convict,” wrote Goodman. “Make no mistake. This is squarely an Espionage Act case.”

“It is not simply an ‘obstruction’ case,” he added. “There is now every reason to expect former President Trump will be charged under 18 USC 793(e) of the Espionage Act. The law fits his reported conduct like a hand in glove.”

Watch CBS News’ report on DOJ’s decision to not charge Pence below or at this link:

 

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