Whatever George Santos’s sins, he will probably stay in Congress—and out of jail—at least until the next election, in 2024
Only after Mr Santos, a Republican from New York state, was elected to Congress in November was the extent of his deception exposed. He has since admitted to “embellishing” his, though he denies being “a criminal who defrauded the entire country and made up this fictional character”. But many Americans believe that lying to voters to win an election is a crime, or at least ought to be. Can Mr Santos be prosecuted for his campaign-trail fibs?, including lies.
Some states have sought to make an exception for some sorts of lies that politicians tell when they campaign for office. At least 16 have criminalised false campaign speech, such as lies about rival candidates or ballot initiatives. But courts have largely protected lying politicians from conviction. In 2012, in, the Supreme Court overturned the Stolen Valour Act, a law that made it illegal to claim falsely to have won military medals.
Mr Alvarez told his lies after he had been elected. Suppose he had done so during the campaign, as Mr Santos did. In the eyes of the courts that might not matter. The Supreme Court has not ruled on campaign-trail untruths, but a number of state courts have. Citing, appellate courts in Massachusetts, Minnesota and Ohio have struck down laws that criminalised false campaign speech.
New York is not among the states that criminalises political lying, and it is not clear that the lies of Mr Santos would qualify as criminal behaviour in states that have such statutes. So he will not be sent to the slammer for that. He could be charged with a crime if he misappropriated campaign funds for personal use; investigations of that question are under way.
by removing him. That would trigger an election to replace him that they might lose. Whatever Mr Santos’s sins, he will probably stay in Congress—and out of jail—at least until the next election, in 2024.
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