New York Republican Rep. George Santos made a brief appearance in a federal court on Long Island on Friday, where attorneys characterized it as a routine status conference as his criminal case progresses.
This marked Santos’ first court appearance since he pleaded not guilty last month to a 13-count indictment, which includes charges of fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds.
During the proceedings, prosecutor Ryan Harris informed the judge that the government had commenced the process of discovery by providing Santos’ legal team with over 80,000 pages of material earlier in the week. This exchange of evidence signifies the beginning of the disclosure phase in the ongoing case.