George Santos leaves the US Capitol after his fellow members of Congress voted to expel him from the House of Representatives on December 1, 2023. The New York Republican was later sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to a number of federal charges, but President Trump has now commuted his sentence.
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President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has commuted the prison sentence of George Santos, a disgraced New York Republican who was sentenced to more than seven years in prison for a litany of crimes after being expelled from the House of Representatives on charges of stealing money from campaign donors.
Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social on Friday, saying he signed an amendment to immediately release Santos from prison.
“George Santos was something of a 'crook,' but there are many crooks all over our country who are not forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump wrote.
Santos, an ardent Trump supporter, pleaded guilty in 2024 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors said Santos was responsible for a “mountain of lies, theft and fraud” aimed at enriching himself and defrauding campaign donors. He began serving his sentence in July of this year at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey.
Shortly after Santos was elected in 2020, reports began to emerge that he had fabricated numerous aspects of his identity. He later admitted that he had lied about his education, work and upbringing. Santos was still sworn in to Congress in 2022 despite inconsistencies raised about his background and campaign finances.
His lies would catch up with him less than a year into his term. In 2023, the House voted 311–114. remove him from office. Nearly all Democrats and more than 100 Republicans voted to expel Santos.
The vote made Santos the sixth representative ever to be expelled from the House, but the first to be expelled without being found guilty of a crime. At the time of Santos's exile 23 criminal charges were filed.
Trump compared Santos' crimes to statements made by Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal more than 15 years ago. about his military service. Blumenthal previously admitted that he “misspoke” about serving in Vietnam. Blumenthal served six years at the Marine Sanctuary starting in 1970, but never spent any of that time overseas.
“This is much worse than what George Santos did and at least Santos had the courage, conviction and intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!” Trump wrote.
During his second term, Trump has already issued numerous high-profile pardons and commutations. He announced a full pardon more than 1500 people charged with actions related to the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich also received sorry after he was convicted of a series of corruption-related crimes, including trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by former President Barack Obama. Trump commuted Blagojevich's 14-year prison sentence during his first term.
