Rep. George Santos' lawyer said Monday the indicted New York Republican would risk going to jail to protect the identities of the people who cosigned the $500,000 bond enabling his pretrial release.
The lawyer, Joseph Murray, urged a judge to deny a request by news outlets to unseal the names of Santos' bond suretors, or guarantors, suggesting they could "suffer great distress," including possible job losses and physical harm, if they're identified publicly.
"My client would rather surrender to pretrial detainment than subject these suretors to what will inevitably come," Murray wrote in a letter to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields. Murray asked that she give them time to withdraw as cosigners if she decides to unseal their names, which Shields kept off the public court docket at the lawyer's request.
Murray said he, Santos and Santos' staff have been receiving threatening and harassing calls and messages, including death threats. The lawyer said he received a call Friday from someone shouting, "Who paid Santos' bond?" and said he worries Santos' critics "are just waiting to pounce" on the people backing his release.
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