January, 25 2023, 10:59am EDT
Stand Up America Responds to New Reporting on Santos' Possible Campaign Finance Violations
New reporting on Representative George Santos’ campaign finance filings raises additional questions about potential wrongdoing by the disgraced Congressman. Stand Up America’s Founder and President, Sean Eldridge, issued the following statement on Santos’ possible campaign finance violations:
“George Santos has lied about nearly every aspect of his life, and as more evidence comes to light, it’s become increasingly clear that he violated campaign finance laws.
“Yet, Speaker McCarthy has refused to hold him accountable for his lies and misdeeds. Even as McCarthy has blocked trusted public servants from returning to their roles on the Intelligence Committee, McCarthy has empowered Santos by seating him on two committees and gutting the Office of Congressional Ethics that should be tasked with investigating Santos. Once again, McCarthy is putting his personal power ahead of what’s best for the American people.
“Santos has proven he is wholly unfit for office, and his violations of our laws and public trust cannot go unanswered. Congress should investigate his unethical and likely illegal actions and expel Santos from the House.”
Stand Up America members have sent nearly 10,000 emails to their representatives in Congress, urging them to ensure that Santos is investigated and expelled from the House of Representatives for his lies and potential crimes. Stand Up America is also running national digital ads demanding the House investigate and expel Santos.
Stand Up America is a progressive advocacy organization with over two million community members across the country. Focused on grassroots advocacy to strengthen our democracy and oppose Trump's corrupt agenda, Stand Up America has driven over 600,000 phone calls to Congress and mobilized tens of thousands of protestors across the country.
LATEST NEWS
Judge Rules Trump Admin Must Give Due Process to Venezuelans Sent to El Salvador Torture Prison
"This ruling makes clear the government can't just send people off to a brutal foreign prison with zero due process and simply walk away," said an ACLU lawyer representing the men.
Dec 23, 2025
A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration acted illegally when it deported over 200 Venezuelan nationals to a notorious prison in El Salvador without due process earlier this year.
On Monday, Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Trump administration to submit plans by January 5 for 137 men to contest their designation under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows foreign nationals from "hostile" nations to be removed without hearings.
In March, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act to deport two planeloads of Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador without any explanation or court hearing. They were sent to a mega-prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, which is known to subject inmates to torture and severe deprivation, with zero contact with the outside world.
The administration claimed the men were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, which the administration referred to as a "hybrid criminal state" invading the United States. In reality, only a few dozen of the 238 men sent to CECOT had any criminal charges against them. As part of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) efforts to fast-track their deportations, many were rounded up based solely on the fact that they had tattoos.
“Plaintiffs should not have been removed in the manner that they were, with virtually no notice and no opportunity to contest the bases of their removal, in clear contravention of their due-process rights,” Boasberg wrote.
Boasberg is the same judge who launched criminal contempt proceedings against the Trump administration in April for "willful disregard" of his order to stop the flights to El Salvador. A pair of Trump-appointed judges later halted those proceedings.
In a "60 Minutes" special that was recently spiked by CBS News' Trump-friendly editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, several inmates testified to the conditions they were subject to inside CECOT.
"The first thing they told us was that we would never see the light of day or night again," said college student Luis Muñoz Pinto, who came to the US from Venezuela in 2024 through the legal asylum process. He said the CECOT director told prisoners, "Welcome to hell. I'll make sure you never leave."
According to a report published by Human Rights Watch in November, inmates were beaten daily, subject to sexual violence by guards, deprived of basic food, medical treatment, and hygiene, and forced to participate in degrading torture rituals.
Pinto, who now lives in Colombia, has no criminal record. "I never even got a traffic ticket," he said.
While the Trump administration claimed it no longer had jurisdiction over the prisoners once they were in El Salvador, and therefore could not follow court orders to bring them back to the US, this was belied by filings from the government of the far-right Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele at the United Nations, which stated that "the jurisdiction and legal responsibility for these persons lie exclusively" with the US.
The men detained at CECOT were then transferred, mainly to Venezuela, in July as part of a prisoner exchange for 10 US nationals.
Boasberg says the US government "maintained constructive custody" of the men while they were interned in CECOT and that it violated their rights to due process by not allowing them to contest the accusations that they were gang members.
He said the Trump administration must give them a "meaningful opportunity to contest their designation," by allowing them to return to the US for a court hearing. He said the government "could also theoretically offer plaintiffs a hearing without returning them to the United States so long as such a hearing satisfied the requirements of due process."
"This ruling makes clear the government can't just send people off to a brutal foreign prison with zero due process and simply walk away," said Lee Gelernt, an attorney for the ACLU, who served as lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
The Trump administration will almost certainly appeal the ruling. And while many of the former CECOT inmates may seek to return for their day in court, some say the experience has left them traumatized and fearful of returning to the United States.
Jerce Reyes Barrios, a professional soccer player and youth coach, returned to Venezuela after being released in July. According to his attorney, he was falsely accused due to a tattoo that the government claimed was a gang symbol, but was actually based on the Real Madrid soccer logo.
"I've focused my time on taking care of my daughters, coaching young kids, all to avoid those thoughts. At night, I sometimes have nightmares, and I feel like I'm still in CECOT," Reyes Barrios told ABC News. "At this moment, I'm not ready to decide if I want to fight this case."
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DOJ Disclaimer Raises Eyebrows as Latest Epstein Files Contain Scandalous Mentions of Trump
"The US Department of Justice shouldn’t be acting like the White House’s personal law firm," said Democratic Rep. Nellie Pou.
Dec 23, 2025
The US Department of Justice on Tuesday released a new batch of documents related to the criminal investigation of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—along with a disclaimer aimed at exonerating President Donald Trump, who is mentioned numerous times in the latest disclosures.
In a message posted on X, the DOJ asserted that some of the latest documents "contain untrue and sensationalist claims made against President Trump that were submitted to the FBI right before the 2020 election."
The DOJ insisted that "the claims are unfounded and false, and if they had a shred of credibility, they certainly would have been weaponized against President Trump already."
Among the latest batch of documents released by the DOJ was a letter purportedly written by Epstein in prison to fellow convicted sex offender Larry Nassar in which he claimed that Trump "shares our love of young, nubile girls."
The existence of this letter was reported by the Associated Press in 2023, although its contents were not known at the time. According to MeidasTouch, investigators who found the letter submitted it for handwriting analysis to verify its authenticity, but it is not definitively known at this time if it was written by Epstein.
An internal DOJ email from 2020, meanwhile, states that Trump flew with Epstein on his private plane at least eight times between 1993 and 1996, which was more than had been previously known.
On two occasions, Trump and Epstein shared flights with two people whom the DOJ described as "possible witnesses" in a criminal case against Ghislaine Maxwell, a longtime Epstein accomplice who is serving a prison sentence for conspiring to help him sexually abuse minors.
The DOJ's post defending Trump from allegations made in the documents it had just released drew scrutiny from Politico senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney, who pointed out some basic logical inconsistencies with the department's claims.
"Bizarre defensive post from DOJ saying if allegations of Trump had any credibility they would’ve been 'weaponized' against him," he wrote in response. "But... if they had credibility, then pursuing them, by definition, wouldn’t be weaponization."
Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh, who left the party over his disgust with Trump, said the DOJ post was further evidence of a justice system that had been totally compromised by the president's personal interests.
"Technically, this tweet is coming from our government," he wrote. "But it sounds like and reads like it’s coming from Trump’s lawyers. Trump has so completely corrupted our Justice Department."
Walsh's sentiment was echoed by Rep. Nellie Pou (D-NJ), who argued that "the US Department of Justice shouldn’t be acting like the White House’s personal law firm."
Trump's past relationship with Epstein has come under greater scrutiny in recent months, and the New York Times last week published a lengthy report detailing the two men's years of friendship.
Stacey Williams, a former model who has accused Trump of groping her in front of Epstein in 1993, told the Times that the two men were engaged in "trophy hunting" when it came to their pursuits of women.
The Times report also found that Epstein and Maxwell over the years "introduced at least six women who have accused them of grooming or abuse to Mr. Trump," including one who was a minor at the time.
The report emphasized, however, that "none have accused Mr. Trump himself of inappropriate behavior."
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Greta Thunberg Arrested in UK for Supporting Palestine Action and Opposing Gaza Genocide
Thunberg joined a call for British officials to meet with the lawyers of Palestine Action protesters who have been on a hunger strike in prison.
Dec 23, 2025
"Because in the world we live in, Western leaders can arm a genocide and walk free—while Greta Thunberg is arrested as a dangerous terrorist supporter."
That was the assessment of journalist Owen Jones on Tuesday after the Swedish climate justice leader was arrested in London outside the offices of Aspen Insurance, a company that provides services to an Israeli weapons maker, where she had been seated on the ground with a sign stating, "I support Palestine Action prisoners, I oppose genocide."
The protest was in solidarity with demonstrators who have been imprisoned for taking part in nonviolent direct actions with the UK-based group Palestine Action. The government banned Palestine Action in July as a terrorist group, making it the first group to be declared as such under part of the UK Terrorism Act that defines "serious damage to property" as an act of terror—rather than violence against people.
Under the law, anyone who displays items or clothing that "arouse reasonable suspicion" of support for Palestine Action can be punished with up to six months in prison.
Thunberg is one of thousands of people who have taken to the streets in support since the group's proscription, and one of about 2,000 people who have been arrested for doing so. Two other activists were also arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.
In Thunberg's case, a spokesperson for City of London police said "she has been arrested for displaying an item (in this case a placard) in support of a proscribed organization (in this case Palestine Action) contrary to section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.”
The protest was specifically in support of eight people who have been on a hunger strike to protest their imprisonment and Israel's continued attacks and blocking of essential aid in Gaza.
Greta Thunberg has been arrested for supporting the Palestine Action hunger strikers.
Because in the world we live in, Western leaders can arm a genocide and walk free - while Greta Thunberg is arrested as a dangerous terrorist supporter. pic.twitter.com/faGxR9QbJj
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) December 23, 2025
At least two of the prisoners are in their 52nd day of the hunger strike, and medical professionals have raised grave concerns about their health. Advocates in the UK have also demanded that the Labour government meet with lawyers for the detainees. On Monday, attorneys for the activists said in a letter that the government's refusal to meet with them violates the Ministry of Justice's policy for handling cases of hunger strikes.
“It is up to the state to intervene and put an end to this by meeting these reasonable demands that pave the way for the freedom of all those who choose to use their rights trying to stop a genocide, something the British state has failed to do themselves," said Thunberg.
Member of Parliament Zarah Sultana, co-founder of the socialist Your Party, said that government leaders in the UK, who have continued to back Israel's attacks on Gaza, should be imprisoned, rather than those protesting.
"Greta Thunberg has just been arrested for opposing genocide," said Sultana. "Meanwhile, [Prime Minister] Keir Starmer—complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people—walks free. He should be arrested and sent to The Hague."
Journalist Matt Kennard said images of police confiscating Thunberg's sign and arresting her "will be studied in history books."
"Fascism is already here," he added.
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