Names of co-signers of George Santos' $500,000 bond must be made public, judge rules

Republican Rep. George Santos of New York, who was indicted on charges of wire fraud and money laundering, has lost his effort to keep the public from learning the names of the people who co-signed his $500,000 bond, according to court records.

Santos' attorney Joseph Murray had asked the court to keep the names of the people who guaranteed his half-a-million dollar bond sealed after a motion was filed by multiple news organizations, including CNN, requesting the names be made public.

Murray wrote that "there is little doubt that the suretors will suffer some unnecessary form of retaliation if their identities and employment are revealed" and claimed that Santos "would rather surrender to pre trial detainment than subject these suretors to what will inevitably come" if their names are made public.

CNN has reached out to Murray for comment on the magistrate judge's decision, which was not posted publicly.

Santos was released on bond and ordered to surrender his passport after pleading not guilty to 13 federal charges, seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. He is required to get permission to travel outside of Washington, DC, New York City and Long Island.

Asked Tuesday why it's important to shield the identities of the people who guaranteed his $500,000 bond, Santos told CNN: "Because it is."

The New York Republican has the option of appealing the magistrate judge's order to the district court, and in the meantime, the decision, as well as previously sealed documents with the co-signers' names, will remain under seal until at least Friday.

The freshman congressman, whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos and led top Democrats and some New York Republicans to call for his resignation earlier this year, has said he will not resign from his seat and that he plans to seek reelection next year.