But Keeps Names Hidden For Now
Washington — A federal judge in New York has granted a request from media organizations to make public the identities of three people who signed the bond for Rep. George Santos’ release after his indictment, but said their names should remain hidden for now to allow Santos to appeal.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields said Tuesday that she granted an order to unseal the identities of the guarantors of Santos’ $500,000 bond. However, she directed the clerk of the court to keep her decision and the bond under seal, giving Santos until noon Friday to challenge her ruling.
Defense attorneys for Santos, a Republican from New York, filed a motion under a court-imposed deadline Monday night arguing the court should keep the records under wraps. His defense said the three people who helped provide Santos’ bond would be “likely to suffer great distress, may lose their jobs, and God forbid, may suffer physical injury” if their identities were made public. “There is little doubt that the suretors will suffer some unnecessary form of retaliation if their identities and employment are revealed,” Santos’ filing said. It closed by saying that Santos “would rather surrender to pretrial detainment than subject these suretors to what will inevitably come.”
