Some New York Republicans are not happy with President Trump’s decision to commute the sentence of disgraced former New York Rep. George Santos.
Santos was serving more than seven years in a New Jersey correctional facility for wire fraud and identity theft.
Mr. Trump on Friday announced he was freeing Santos, whom he called “somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison.”
The president added on Truth Social, “George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!”
Rep. Nick LaLota said Santos “didn’t merely lie — he stole millions, defrauded an election, and his crimes (for which he pled guilty) warrant more than a three-month sentence.”
The GOP congressman added on X, “He should devote the rest of his life to demonstrating remorse and making restitution to those he wronged.”
Santos was sentenced in April after pleading guilty in August 2024. He reported to prison in July. He owed the government nearly $58,000 in fines, including $375,000 in restitution and $205,000 in forfeiture.
After he won the seat for New York’s 3rd Congressional District in 2022, the lies he had been telling started to unravel, including about where he went to school, where he worked, being Jewish and his mother dying in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
A House Ethics Committee report determined there was “overwhelming evidence” that Santos broke the law multiple times and exploited his office for profit. He was expelled from Congress in December 2023.
Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who was a member of the ethics panel that investigated Santos, criticized the short sentence.
“The President has the discretion to commute sentences for people convicted of federal crimes. In this case, Santos willingly pled guilty to these crimes and then complained about having to serve his sentence,” Mr. Garbarino said in a statement. “The victims of his crimes still have not been made whole, including the people he stole from and the voters he defrauded. He has shown no remorse. The less than three months that he spent in prison is not justice.”
Before being expelled from Congress, Santos was seen as a potential rising star. He was the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress.
Santos appealed to the president not long after he was sentenced. He took to social media to say that he believed the length of his sentence was “an over-the-top politically influenced sentence” and that he feared how he would be treated in prison.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican, appealed to Mr. Trump for months to free Santos and thanked the president for doing so.
“He was unfairly treated and put in solitary confinement, which is torture!!” she wrote on social media, adding that Mr. Trump did “the right thing.”
Santos’ attorney, Joseph Murray, along with a slew of people, also thanked the president for supporting his client.
“President Trump is absolutely right when he says that the U.S. is back!” Mr. Murray wrote on Santos’ X account. “As a retired NYPD police officer having experienced firsthand the typical government dysfunction and red tape, I am absolutely amazed to see how functional, efficient and cooperatively this administration works together to get the job done, especially with their legislative counterparts. If only the Democrats would rejoin Team USA. I am so proud to be an American!”
