It may not get a lot of attention. In a way it doesn’t matter since I don’t think anyone cares that George Santos going to do serious time in prison. But in addition to the mistake he made not resigning soon after the original New York Times report last December, he made another big mistake staying in office until this week’s House Ethics report was released. Resignation from office is always a big chit in plea negotiations. There are both good public policy reasons for this (corrupt pols should be removed from office) and it appeals to prosecutors’ inherent desire for a ‘win’. Regardless of the motivation, it’s something a politician can agree to give up and get something in return.
Now it’s too late – even if in theory Santos cut a deal today ahead of getting expelled. It’s like he held on to a hot shot stock portfolio until it dropped down to penny stock levels. It’s now extremely likely he’ll be expelled from office at the end of this month. Prosecutors know that. Resigning in the face of near certain expulsion isn’t worth anything.
