Trump commutes sentence of former republican lawmaker George Santos
U.S. President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of former Republican congressman George Santos, who had been serving time for fraud and identity theft, Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Announcing his decision on Truth Social, Trump said Santos had “made mistakes” but described him as a loyal Republican. He also criticized the conditions of Santos’s imprisonment, saying he had been “horribly mistreated” in solitary confinement. “George Santos was somewhat of a rogue,” Trump wrote, adding that “there are many rogues throughout our country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison.”
Santos rose to prominence after his 2022 election victory in New York’s 3rd Congressional District, becoming one of the first openly gay Republicans elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. His career quickly collapsed as investigations revealed that he had fabricated parts of his background and misused campaign funds. The House of Representatives later voted to expel him, and he received a seven-year sentence after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft.
Santos’s commutation marks Trump’s latest high-profile act of clemency for former Republican officials since returning to the White House in January. Earlier this year, he pardoned ex-congressman Michael Grimm of New York, who had pleaded guilty to tax fraud, and former Connecticut governor John Rowland, who served two prison terms for corruption.
While those cases involved party figures whose careers ended years ago, the decision to grant clemency to Santos stands out: he remains a divisive figure even among Republicans.
The White House has not yet announced when Santos will be released.
Earlier it was reported that Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social, claimed that a submarine carrying a major shipment of fentanyl and other drugs had been destroyed.
