US President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he had decided to commute the prison sentence of former New York Republican Representative George Santos.
In April, Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison after pleading guilty to 23 federal counts of wire fraud and identity theft. In a mail On Truth Social, Trump said that although Santos was “somewhat of a rogue,” there were “a lot of rogues all over our country who didn’t have to spend seven years in prison.”
“I started thinking about George when the subject of Democratic Senator Richard “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal came up again. As everyone remembers, Da Nang said nearly twenty years ago that he was a proud Vietnam veteran, having endured the worst of the war, seeing the wounded and dead running up the hills and down the valleys, with blood streaming from his face. “A great hero,” he was leaking to anyone and everyone who would listen – and then it happened! “It was a complete and complete scam,” Trump wrote.
“This is much worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the courage, conviction, and intelligence to always vote Republican! George was kept in solitary confinement for long periods of time, and by all accounts, was extremely poorly treated. So, I just signed a commutation agreement, to release George Santos from prison, effective immediately. Good luck George, have a great life!” Trump added.
Former US Rep. George Santon (R-NY) attends Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump’s primary night. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Before being expelled from the House of Representatives by his colleagues in December 2021 over his federal charges, the former Republican lawmaker had served nearly a year in Congress. According to a November 2023 House Ethics Committee report, lawmakers also found that he committed additional violations beyond his guilty plea. (RELATED: ‘I wasn’t made for this’: George Santos tells Tucker Carlson he may not ‘survive’ prison)
In one of his last interviews before starting his sentence, Santos told Tucker Carlson, co-founder of the Daily Caller News Foundation, in July that he feared for his life in prison.
“I don’t know if I’ll survive this,” Santos said. “They’re putting me in a violent prison. It’s an average facility. I’m not a street guy. I don’t know how to fight.” “I’m a gay man. The statistics tell you what happens to gay men in prison. I don’t know if I’m going to survive this. I’m being honest. I mean I can’t change it. It’s sad. I have a family.”
Shortly after the interview, Santos began his prison sentence, send Message to his supporters on July 24 on Channel X.
“The curtain falls, the lights dim, the rhinestones fill. From the halls of Congress to the chaos of the news, what a ride! Was it chaotic? Always. Glamorous? Sometimes. Honest? I tried…most days. To my supporters: You made this wild political cabaret worth it. To my critics: Thanks to the free press. I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me, the legends don’t You never really graduate. Santos wrote.
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