Trump commutes sentence of disgraced ex-Congressman Santos

[ad_1] President Donald Trump mentioned Friday he had commuted the sentence of former US Rep. George Santos, who was slated to serve greater than seven years in federal jail after pleading responsible to fraud and identification theft costs.

Joseph Murray, one in every of Santos’ legal professionals, instructed the New York Submit late Friday that the previous lawmaker was launched from the Federal Correctional Establishment in Fairton, New Jersey, round 11pm.

The New York Republican was sentenced in April after admitting final yr to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 folks – together with his family members – to make donations to his marketing campaign.

He reported to FCI Fairton on July 25 and was housed in a minimal safety jail camp with fewer than 50 different inmates.

“George Santos was considerably of a ‘rogue,’ however there are a lot of rogues all through our Nation that aren’t compelled to serve seven years in jail," Trump posted on his social media platform. He mentioned he had “simply signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from jail, IMMEDIATELY.”

"Good luck George, have an incredible life!” Trump mentioned.

Santos’ account on X, which has been lively all through his roughly 84 days in jail, reposted a screenshot of Trump’s Fact Social publish Friday.

Throughout his time behind bars, Santos has been writing common dispatches in a neighborhood newspaper on Lengthy Island, through which he primarily complained concerning the jail circumstances.

In his newest letter, although, he pleaded to Trump immediately, citing his fealty to the president's agenda and to the Republican Social gathering.

“Sir, I enchantment to your sense of justice and humanity – the identical qualities which have impressed thousands and thousands of People to imagine in you," he wrote in The South Shore Press on Oct. 13. "I humbly ask that you just take into account the weird ache and hardship of this atmosphere and permit me the chance to return to my household, my mates, and my neighborhood.”

Santos’ commutation is Trump’s newest high-profile act of clemency for former Republican politicians since retaking the White Home in January.

In late Could, he pardoned former US Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who in 2014 pleaded responsible to underreporting wages and income at a restaurant he ran in Manhattan. He additionally pardoned former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, whose promising political profession was upended by a corruption scandal and two federal jail stints.

However in granting clemency to Santos, Trump was rewarding a determine who has drawn scorn from inside his personal celebration.

After turning into the primary overtly homosexual Republican elected to Congress in 2022, Santos served lower than a yr after it was revealed that he had fabricated a lot of his life story.

On the marketing campaign path, Santos had claimed he was a profitable enterprise guide with Wall Avenue cred and a large actual property portfolio. However when his resume got here beneath scrutiny, Santos ultimately admitted he had by no means graduated from Baruch School – or been a standout participant on the Manhattan faculty’s volleyball workforce, as he had claimed. He had by no means labored at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

He wasn’t even Jewish. Santos insisted he meant he was “Jew-ish” as a result of his mom’s household had a Jewish background, despite the fact that he was raised Catholic.

In fact, the then-34-year-old was struggling financially and even confronted eviction.

Santos was charged in 2023 with stealing from donors and his marketing campaign, fraudulently amassing unemployment advantages and mendacity to Congress about his wealth.

Inside months, he was expelled from the US Home of Representatives – with 105 Republicans becoming a member of with Democrats to make Santos simply the sixth member within the chamber’s historical past to be ousted by colleagues..

Santos pleaded responsible as he was set to face trial.

Nonetheless, a distinguished former Home colleague, US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, urged the White Home to commute Santos’ sentence, saying in a letter despatched simply days into his jail bid that the punishment was “a grave injustice” and a product of judicial overreach.

Greene was amongst those that cheered the announcement Friday. However US Rep. Nick LaLota, a Republican who represents a part of Lengthy Island and has been extremely vital of Santos, mentioned in a publish on social media that Santos “didn’t merely lie” and his crimes “warrant greater than a three-month sentence”.

“He ought to dedicate the remainder of his life to demonstrating regret and making restitution to these he wronged,” LaLota mentioned.

Santos’ clemency seems to clear not simply his jail time period, but in addition any “additional fines, restitution, probation, supervised launch, or different circumstances”, in keeping with a replica of Trump’s order posted on X by Ed Martin, the Justice Division’s pardon legal professional.

As a part of his responsible plea, Santos had agreed to pay restitution of $373,750 and forfeiture of $205,003.

In explaining his motive for granting Santos clemency, Trump mentioned the lies Santos instructed about himself have been no worse than deceptive statements US Sen. Richard Blumenthal – a Democrat and frequent critic of the administration – had made about his army document.

Blumenthal apologized 15 years in the past for implying that he served in Vietnam, when he was stateside within the Marine Reserve through the battle.

“That is far worse than what George Santos did, and no less than Santos had the Braveness, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” Trump wrote.

The president himself was convicted in a New York court docket final yr in a case involving hush cash funds. He derided the case as a part of a politically motivated witch hunt.