Republican Rep. George Santos' aunt and father helped post his $500,000 bond in an ongoing criminal fraud case, according to records unsealed by a federal judge on Thursday.

Santos was criminally charged by federal investigators in May on 13 counts: 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.

Within hours of being indicted, Santos pleaded not guilty to all charges against him, and was ultimately released on $500,000 bond — which was paid for with the help of previously anonymous people, who have now been identified as his aunt, Elma Santos Preven, and father, Gercino Dos Santos.

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In May, The New York Times argued in the U.S. District Court on Long Island that those who committed the funds to Santos' bond should be made public. The outlet was ultimately joined by various other news outlet in arguing that there's a public interest to identifying the individuals, who could have "political influence" over Santos.

A federal judge in New York agreed to unseal the records showing the identities of the people who helped the embattled congressman post his bond, denying Santos' request to keep the information out of public view. In a June court filing, Santos' lawyer had asserted that family members sponsored the bond — not people with...

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