


Disgraced Rep. George Santos wants a judge to modify his bail conditions to allow him to go out to eat and shop in the Washington, DC, area, court papers show.
Currently, the embattled Republican, who is out on $500,000 bond in his criminal fraud case, can only travel in New York City, Long Island and DC — unless he notifies prosecutors and pre-trial services first of travel outside of these areas.
His lawyer Joseph Murray asked Central Islip federal Magistrate Judge Anne Shields to expand Santos’ travel limits to 30 miles outside of DC to avoid “unnecessary notifications.”
“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 local airports,” Murray wrote in the letter filed Wednesday.
Murray said that prosecutors don’t object to the modification request.
The openly gay GOP lawmaker, who was bailed out by his dad and aunt, was charged in May with embezzling $50,000 in campaign money to buy designer clothing and pay personal expenses. He was also accused of cheating his way to COVID unemployment benefits and lying to Congress on financial disclosure forms falsely claiming to be a millionaire.
Santos is charged in a 13-count indictment with wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to the House of Representatives. He faces up to 20 years behind bars if convicted on the top charges.
He has pleaded not guilty in the case and called it a “witch hunt” while vowing not to resign.
The US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.
Santos has been warring with members of his own party following his indictment — and compared himself to Rosa Parks earlier this month, saying he won’t “sit in the back” as some fellow congressional lawmakers have demanded.