George Santos might not be done dealing

One of the most accomplished liars in modern politics appears to have spoken some truth Monday. George Anthony Devolder Santos, the former Long Island member of Congress, pleaded guilty to two federal charges of identity theft and wire fraud.

The only reason to believe the words that came of his mouth — he has lied about almost every single aspect of his life and deeds — is that his deal comes with at least a 2-year prison sentence, and likely longer if the intent of the punishment is to deter others from such scheming and betrayal.

Signing the plea agreement doesn't mean Santos will be any less recklessly dishonest in the future; most likely, it was necessitated by the huckster's inability to pay for the million-dollar defense needed to have a shot at getting acquitted at trial on all 23 counts in his two indictments.

The plea deprives us of learning the details of how someone with such a sharpened grifter's eye gamed the federal campaign financing system. Santos' false filings, false loans and false contributions allowed to him to unlock significantly more funding from a national Republican PAC. A trial also would have been a window into the operations of Nancy Marks, who served as campaign treasurer for Santos and many other Long Island candidates. Marks has pleaded guilty to providing the Federal Election Commission with a list of false donors and, as part of her plea deal, would have testified against Santos. 

It's not possible to accept the apology the once-defiant Santos offered both to the judge in the courtroom and to the cameras outside the Alfonse M. D'Amato U.S. Courthouse in Central Islip: "I deeply regret my conduct and the harm it has caused and accept full responsibility for my actions," said the trembling fraudster. Even if his remorse is legit, the well of sympathy is low after Santos deceived voters of the 3rd Congressional District and behaved arrogantly and callously for the 11 months he served as a House court jester — until the Republican Party realized he was too much of a drag on its credibility and expelled him in December. At that time, Santos said getting the boot was a "disgusting politicized smear that shows the depths of how low our federal government has sunk." Santos is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 7, by which time he is supposed to have paid $374,000 in restitution to his victims from a source of funding yet to be determined.

But Santos, who rode the MAGA wave so well, could yet be the beneficiary of a return to the White House by Donald Trump, who generously made use of his pardon power before he left office in 2020 to erase the misdeeds of former Republican House members Chris Collins and Duncan Hunter. 

The con man may still have another card up his sleeve.