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President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social Friday that he has commuted the sentence of former Republican Rep. Jorge Santos, following several campaign finance violations.
“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our country who did not have to spend seven years in prison.” Trump wrote.
“I started thinking about George when the subject of Democratic Senator Richard “Da Nang Dick” Blumenthal came up again… This is much worse than what George Santos did, and Santos at least had the courage, conviction, and intelligence to always vote Republican!” President Trump added.
“Jorge has been in solitary confinement for long periods of time and, by all accounts, has been subjected to extremely poor treatment. Therefore, I have just signed a commutation agreement, to release Jorge Santos from prison, effective immediately.”
Former Congressman Jorge Santos gives ‘charming’ farewell before going to prison: ‘The curtain comes down’
On Friday, US President Donald Trump commuted the prison sentence of former Representative George Santos, Republican of New York. (James Carbone/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
Santos had stated that he would serve his sentence in federal prison at the end of July earlier this year, with a staged post in which he wrote: “Okay, my dears… the curtains fall, the lights dim, and the rhinestones fill.”
The former actor pleaded guilty in 2024 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. U.S. District Judge Joanna Seibert sentenced Santos to the maximum sentence in April. Seibert also ordered Santos to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution and forfeit more than $205,000 in fraud proceeds.
Nassau County District Attorney Ann T. Donnelly said in a statement at the time that Santos “traded his integrity for designer clothing and a luxury lifestyle.”
The former actor and his campaign treasurer manipulated donor reports to qualify for national Republican Party funding, including falsely reporting a $500,000 loan from Santos when he had less than $8,000 cumulatively in his accounts.
Marjorie Taylor Greene urges Trump to commute Jorge Santos’ federal prison sentence: ‘far worse crimes’
Former U.S. Rep. George Santos arrives at court in Central Islip, New York, Monday, August 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)
According to the Department of Justice, Santos made unauthorized charges to fund both campaign and personal expenses from stolen donor credit card information, including that of “victims who he knew were elderly people with cognitive impairment or decline.” He also used a fake political fundraising company to obtain tens of thousands of dollars, which he spent on “designer clothing.”
Santos flipped New York’s 3rd Congressional District in 2022 to the GOP despite falsifying his resume, including a claim that his family had ties to 9/11 and the Holocaust that was debunked at the time.
Rep. George Santos, Republican of New York, poses for a photo outside the US Capitol after the House failed to pass the Spending Cuts and Border Security Act, on September 29, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The House expelled Santos in December 2023, after a scathing ethics report, making him the sixth member of Congress to be impeached in history.
“I may be leaving the stage (for now), but trust me, legends never truly exit,” he added in Santos’ July X post.
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“Good luck George, have a great life!” The President concluded.