A New York federal judge granted Rep. George Santos‘s (R-NY) request to widen his pretrial travel restrictions to allow for more movement outside the District of Columbia.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields’s approved a request from lawyer Joseph Murray to allow his Republican client to travel within a 30-mile radius of Washington, D.C.
Santos was indicted on 13 federal charges related to wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making false statements to the House of Representatives in May. He pleaded not guilty and was released on a $500,000 bond, co-signed by two family members.
As part of the conditions of his release, the freshman Republican lawmaker had to surrender his passport, and his travel was restricted to Washington, D.C., New York City, and Long Island. Murray argued in his letter to Shield that Santos, who is running for reelection, had a “good faith basis” for needing to expand his travel access.
“In light of the small geographical area of the District of Columbia, there is a frequent need to travel outside the District of Columbia for usual and customary functions of someone who lives and works in the District of Columbia, such as dining, shopping, meetings, events, and even use of the local airports,” Murray said.
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The lawyers said restrictions on these types of travels have led to “unnecessary notifications” to the government and pretrial services of Santos’s travel. Part of Santos’s release required him to report to those two entities if he wanted to travel to other parts of the United States.
Murray had said during Santos’s arraignment in May that the congressman also needed the freedom to attend campaign events and fundraisers. He represents the 3rd Congressional District of New York and is facing four Democratic challengers for his seat in 2024.
