President Donald Trump commuted the federal prison sentence of ex-Congressman George Santos, the disgraced New York Republican who pleaded guilty earlier this year to wire fraud, identity theft, and campaign finance violations.
Santos, who had been serving an 87-month (just over seven-year) sentence, was released immediately under the terms of Trump’s order issued Friday. The move comes less than three months after Santos began serving his sentence, prompting swift criticism from both Democrats and some Republicans who say the decision undermines accountability for public officials.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described Santos as “something of a rogue,” but claimed his punishment had been “far greater than most who have done far worse.” The administration has not indicated whether Santos’s restitution or supervised release conditions were waived, though the commutation ends his prison term.
Santos’s legal troubles stemmed from a string of falsehoods and financial misdeeds that unraveled soon after his 2022 election to Congress. He admitted to inflating campaign donations, stealing donor identities, and lying about his education and work history. The House expelled him in December 2023 following an ethics investigation that detailed “a complex web of deception.”
Critics, even House Republicans, argue the president’s decision signals a pattern of rewarding loyalty and dismissing corruption, while supporters contend it reflects Trump’s commitment to what he calls “sentencing fairness.”
Santos responded via social media through his attorney Joseph Murray, praising Trump as “the greatest President in U.S. history” and thanking several Republican lawmakers, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Anna Paulina Luna, and former Congressman Matt Gaetz, as well as members of the Justice Department and the Bureau of Prisons. The statement lauded the administration’s “efficiency” and criticized Democrats for not joining “Team USA.”
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