President Donald Trump on Friday commuted the more-than-seven-year federal prison sentence of former U.S. Rep. George Santos, the disgraced gay New York Republican who became a national symbol of political deceit before his expulsion from Congress.
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Trump announced the decision on Truth Social, calling Santos “somewhat of a rogue” and claiming his punishment was excessive. He compared Santos’s conduct to Democratic Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s past misstatements about military service, calling Blumenthal a “complete and total fraud.” Trump said Santos had been “horribly mistreated” and held in solitary confinement for long stretches, adding, “I just signed a commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, immediately. Good luck George, have a great life.”
Related: George Santos bids farewell as he begins prison sentence
Santos, 37, pleaded guilty to 23 felony counts, including wire fraud, identity theft, and falsifying records. Prosecutors said he fabricated campaign loans, stole donor identities, and spent political contributions on luxury goods, Botox, and online subscriptions. In April, a federal judge sentenced him to 87 months in prison and ordered him to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars. He began serving his sentence in July at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey.
The commutation spares Santos from the remainder of his sentence but leaves his conviction intact. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not expunge a criminal record; it simply ends the prison term.
Related: BREAKING: Marjorie Taylor Greene officially urges Trump to commute George Santos’s prison sentence
Before Trump’s intervention, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia had urged him to grant clemency, calling Santos’s punishment a “grave injustice.” In a letter to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, Greene said his sentence “extends far beyond what is warranted,” asserting that Santos had accepted responsibility and shown remorse.
Santos, who was the first out gay Republican elected to Congress as a non-incumbent, entered prison amid spectacle and defiance. Days before reporting, he posted online that he would “surrender in Ferragamo so I can walk out in Ferragamo.”
This story is developing.
Josh Sorbe at the gym.courtesy Josh Sorbe
Josh Sorbe partipates in a 10-mile run.courtesy Josh Sorbe