Santos fundraising off of indictment: 'the fight is real'

New York Republican Rep. George Santos has begun fundraising off of his indictment after pleading not guilty on Wednesday to criminal charges brought by the Department of Justice.

"The fight is real & I’m OVER the target, I need your support to keep me fighting for freedom," he tweeted on Wednesday, along with a link to WinRed, a Republican Party fundraising platform.

Santos appeared to suggest that his indictment was DOJ retaliation for his asking questions related to Miles Guo, an exiled Chinese billionaire who is facing fraud charges.

"I asked questions about #MilesGuo & the DOJ indicts me 5 days later!" he said.

In a separate Tweet, he merely posted "WITCH HUNT!" former President Donald Trump's favorite term for the myriad legal efforts against him. It is unclear whether Santos was referring to his own legal woes or those of the former president in that instance.

Santos turned himself in on Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to 13 federal charges, including wire fraud, money laundering, and stealing public funds. He was released on $500,000 bond.

The New York Republican flipped a competitive district in the 2022 midterms. Shortly after his victory, reports called into question the claims he made about his background while campaigning.

He has since admitted that, rather than working for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup as he claimed, he worked for LinkBridge, a firm he says merely did business with both.

Santos has also come under fire for his dubious claim that his family fled Nazi Germany to escape the Holocaust, fraudulent activities in Brazil, and his alleged past activities as a drag queen.

He has refused calls to resign and has filed to run for reelection in 2024.

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