Republican Rep. George Santos of New York leaves the U.S. Capitol after being expelled from the U.S. Congress after a bipartisan vote for his removal on December 1, 2023 © by Julia Nikhinson/UPI
Dear Commons Community,
Trump on Friday night said he commuted the sentence of George Santos, freeing the expelled Republican U.S. House member after just three months in federal prison.
Santos, who served in the House for less than one year, was sentenced to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos, 37, reported to a federal facility in Fairton, N.Y., on July 25.
Santos, before reporting to prison, told a Saudi outlet, Al Arabiya English, that he asked Trump for a pardon.
“I did not spend time in D.C. making friends,” Santos said. “I never made it to the president. I got stonewalled by the gatekeepers.”
From prison last week, Santos wrote a letter to Trump published in The South Shore Press: “Mr. President, I am not asking for sympathy. I am asking for fairness — for the chance to rebuild. I know I have made mistakes in my past. I have faced my share of consequences, and I take full responsibility for my actions. But no man, no matter his flaws, deserves to be lost in the system, forgotten and unseen, enduring punishment far beyond what justice requires.”
Blumental served in the Marine Corps Reserve, saying in 2010 he was not “clear or precise” about his service “during the Vietnam era” and not “in Vietnam.”
Santos fabricated parts of his biography, including falsely, saying that he was a “star” player on a championship volleyball team.
Santos was raised Catholic but claimed his mother had a Jewish background and that his maternal grandparents were Jewish refugees from Ukraine who survived the Holocaust. His grandparents were born in Brazil.
He also said his mother died in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, though she wasn’t in the United States at the time.
Santos took office on Jan. 3, 2023, serving in New York’s 3rd Congressional District.
On Nov. 16, 2023, Santos announced he would not seek re-election for the seat that serves parts of Long Island and Queens.
That day, the House Ethics Committee found that he “violated federal criminal laws.” The funds were used for personal purposes and he filed false campaign reports, the report said.
Despite a slim Republican majority and relying on his vote, the House expelled Santos the next month on Dec. 1, 2023. The 311-114 vote surpassed the required two-thirds majority.
He was the sixth lawmaker to be forced out of the chamber.
On March 7, 2024, he announced he would run as a Republican in the 1st Congressional District and 15 days later, Santos said he would seek the office as an independent. A month later, on April 23, he withdrew his candidacy.
He pleaded guilty on Aug. 19, 2024, in federal court in Central Islip, N.Y., and was sentenced on April 25.
“I deeply regret my conduct,” Santos said in court during his conviction and sentence. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
Not surprising that Trump should pardon this sleaze!
Tony
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