President Donald Trump on Friday announced he is commuting the sentence of former New York GOP Rep. George Santos, who was serving more than seven years in federal prison for wire fraud and identity theft.<\/p>\n
Santos pleaded guilty last summer and was sentenced in April before reporting in July to a federal correctional center in New Jersey, The Washington Times reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge Santos was somewhat of a \u2018rogue,\u2019 but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren\u2019t forced to serve seven years in prison,\u201d President Trump wrote on Truth Social.<\/p>\n
\u201cGeorge has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated,\u201d he added. \u201cTherefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!\u201d<\/p>\n
The order frees Santos effective immediately and converts the remainder of his sentence to time served.<\/p>\n
Santos, 36, had appealed to the president soon after his sentencing, calling his punishment \u201can over-the-top politically influenced sentence.\u201d He said he feared how he would be treated in custody and claimed prosecutors targeted him for political reasons.<\/p>\n
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., thanked Trump for the decision, calling Santos\u2019 confinement \u201ctorture.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was unfairly treated and put in solitary confinement, which is torture!!\u201d Greene wrote on X.<\/p>\n
Known for his flair for the dramatic, Santos reflected on his fall from Congress in a farewell post before reporting to prison.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, darlings \u2026 The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed,\u201d he wrote. \u201cFrom the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news, what a ride it\u2019s been! Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried\u2026 most days.\u201d<\/p>\n
He signed off, \u201cForever fabulously yours, George.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Campaign Legal Center first filed an FEC complaint in January 2023, accusing Santos of defrauding donors. He was later expelled from Congress and charged with multiple counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements.<\/p>\n
Following his sentencing, Saurav Ghosh, director of federal campaign finance reform at the center, called the case a \u201cmajor victory\u201d for voters who had been \u201cdeceived or defrauded.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSantos\u2019 brazen fraud and misconduct, which included serious violations of federal campaign finance laws, was an affront to his constituents, his donors, and the integrity of our democracy,\u201d Ghosh said.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s commutation comes amid renewed attention on President Trump\u2019s broader clemency record.<\/p>\n
On Inauguration Day, Trump also granted clemency to roughly 1,550 defendants convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot, ordering the Justice Department to dismiss any remaining indictments. About 900 of those cases involved non-violent misdemeanors such as trespass and disorderly conduct, AEI reported.<\/p>\n
Trump said at the time the sweeping action was meant to restore \u201cfairness\u201d after years of \u201cpoliticized prosecutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just minutes before leaving office that same day, former President Joe Biden issued his final batch of pardons to members of his own family, administration officials, and several political allies \u2014 including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Gen. Mark Milley. Biden\u2019s last-minute actions capped off what historians now say was the largest use of clemency in modern U.S. history.<\/p>\n
In total, Biden granted pardons and commutations to more than 8,000 individuals, including convicted murderers, child abusers, and high-profile Democratic donors, according to Justice Department data. Critics have accused Biden of using clemency as a political tool after Congress declined to pass his proposed sentencing reforms.<\/p>\n
Trump allies contrast the two approaches, saying Biden\u2019s pardons were designed to protect himself and his inner circle while Trump\u2019s actions focused on alleged political victims and excessive punishments.<\/p>\n
They also note Biden\u2019s decision to pardon his family members and close associates \u2014 including his brothers, sister, and in-laws \u2014 before prosecutors could open investigations into alleged influence-peddling schemes.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Biden used the pardon power to cover for corruption,\u201d one senior administration source said. \u201cPresident Trump used it to correct injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Donald Trump on Friday announced he is commuting the sentence of former New York GOP Rep. George Santos, who was serving more than seven years in federal prison for wire fraud and identity theft. Santos pleaded guilty last summer and was sentenced in April before reporting in July to a federal correctional center in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8450,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-daily-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8449"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8451,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8449\/revisions\/8451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailynewsintime.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}