George Santos sponsors unemployment fraud bill despite being charged with unemployment fraud

Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is facing charges of employment benefits fraud even though he is sponsoring a bill to prevent the crime.

The fraud charges came as part of a 13-count indictment that was unsealed on Wednesday after Santos was arrested.

The indictment said Santos "falsely claimed to have been unemployed since the week of March 22, 2020," in an application for unemployment benefits related to Covid-19.

But the documents also noted Santos was being paid a salary of $120,000 a year during that same period.

Santos is one of 35 co-sponsors for H.R. 1163, which would crack down on unemployment benefits fraud.

"This bill addresses fraud and overpayments of pandemic unemployment insurance (UI) benefits, including by providing incentives for states to investigate and recover overpayments of these benefits," the bill's description states.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise was asked on Wednesday if Santos' arrest undermined the bill.

"There is a legal process," Scalise replied. "The charges just came out. We saw some of them this morning. But in America, there is a presumption of innocence. He's going to have to go through the legal process."