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[Global Times Special Correspondent Chen Xin] Columbia Broadcasting Corporation reported on the 19th that former US Republican Congressman George Santos reached a plea agreement with New York federal prosecutors on the same day, admitting to two of the 23 charges previously charged: wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Information released on the US Department of Justice website shows that the specific violations admitted by Santos include: submitting false Federal Election Commission reports, misappropriating funds from campaign donors, using credit cards without authorization, obtaining unemployment benefits through fraudulent means, and lying in reports submitted to the House of Representatives. Santos' case will be sentenced on February 7, 2025, and he will face a mandatory sentence of a minimum of 2 years and a maximum of 22 years in prison.

According to the Washington Post, after the 36-year-old Santos was elected to Congress in 2022, U.S. media broke the news that his education and work experience were full of lies. He not only fabricated his so-called alma mater, but also lied that he had worked for well-known financial companies Goldman Sachs and Citigroup. Santos even made up stories such as "his mother was in the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terrorist attacks" and "his grandparents escaped the Holocaust during World War II" to gild his resume.

In May 2023, Santos was charged with 13 counts related to "defrauding donors and falsely claiming unemployment benefits." Prosecutors accused him of using donors' money to buy himself designer clothes and defrauding more than $24,000 in unemployment insurance. The U.S. Department of Justice also stated that between July 2020 and October 2022, Santos designed and implemented a fraud scheme to steal the personal identities, financial information, and bank account funds of multiple campaign donors. In December 2023, the notorious Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives, which has only happened five times in U.S. history.