Santos appeals court order unsealing names of bail sponsors

Republican New York Rep. George Santos on Friday appealed a court order unsealing the names of the three individuals who sponsored his bail.

A federal judge on Tuesday sided with a group of media organizations who sought the names of his bail sponsors. The embattled lawmaker secured released on a $500,000 bond after pleading not guilty in May to 13 federal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, and stealing public funds.

Santos attorney Joseph Murray had previously insisted the sponsors for face safety concerns due to the media attention surrounding the case. In filing the appeal, Murray reiterated that position, per the Hill, but asserted that the suretors' were likely to withdraw from serving in that capacity if their identities became public knowledge.

"It is very likely that if the suretor’s identities are released, that Defendant and the sureties will mutually decide that they shall have to withdraw from, serving as suretors," Murray said. "In that Defendant may be subject to more onerous conditions of release or may be subject to pretrial detention, presents as a potential countervailing factor to consider up against either the common law right of access to judicial records or the qualified First Amendment right to access."

Murray previously contended that Santos would prefer to remain incarcerated than to allow the identities of his bail sponsors to become public.

The New York Republican flipped a competitive House district in November 2022, but has faced calls to resign from his local party and political figures on both sides of the political spectrum. After the election, numerous reports began to expose his myriad false statements made while on campaign as well as his numerous past alleged schemes.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.