A federal judge granted a request to reveal the identities of the three people who signed the bond for Rep. George Santos’ release after he was indicted last month.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Anne Shields granted the request from media organizations to unseal the identities of the guarantors of Santos’ $500,000 bond.
However she is giving Santos until noon Friday to challenge her ruling. Until then, her decision and the bond are being kept under seal.
The ruling comes one day after Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray, argued against the release of the names in a letter to Shields. Murray wrote that the suretors could “suffer great distress,” including possible job losses and “may suffer physical injury” if their names are released to the public, the Associated Press reported.
“If this Court is so inclined to unseal the suretors, we truly fear for their health, safety and well being,” Murray wrote. “My client would rather surrender to pretrial detainment than subject these suretors to what will inevitably come.”
A grand jury indicted Santos last month on 13 criminal charges including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making false statements to Congress. He has pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.
