(CNN) Disgraced former Rep. George Santos, who had been serving a seven-year term for fraud charges that led to his ouster from Congress, was released from prison on Friday night after President Donald Trump commuted his sentence, his lawyer told CNN.
Trump first announced the commutation on Truth Social on Friday evening. According to attorney Joseph Murray, Santos’ family picked him up from the prison about five hours later.
“George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” the president wrote 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,” Trump added.
Trump’s commutation comes just months after Santos, 37, surrendered on July 25 to serve 87 months in prison. Before he surrendered, Santos told Saudi outlet Al Arabiya English that he asked Trump for a pardon but believed he “got stonewalled.”
“I don’t think it made it to the president,” Santos said of his pardon request at the time. “Unfortunately, gatekeepers have blockaded for it to ever get to the president.”
But even from behind bars, Santos continued to make his case. According to his verified X page, he wrote an open letter to Trump earlier this week, pleading for “fairness” while also saying he takes “full responsibility” for his actions.
“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,” Santos wrote in the letter published in The South Shore Press.
The law firm that represented Santos celebrated the president’s move, telling CNN, “We applaud the President for correcting this injustice.”
Murray posted on X a message on behalf of Santos thanking GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — who he said “fought like a lion” for him — as well as Lauren Boebert, Anna Paulina Luna, and former Congressman Matt Gaetz, whom he described as “in regular contact.”
Santos also expressed gratitude to “the greatest DOJ team ever assembled,” specifically naming Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Associated Deputy AG Diego Pestana, and US Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, among others.
Martin wrote on X he was “honored” to have played “a small role” in Trump granting “clemency” to Santos, and thanked the president for “making clemency great again.”
Meanwhile, the commutation drew mixed reactions from lawmakers. Taylor Greene, who wrote a letter to Trump in August asking him to commute Santos’ sentence, also thanked the president in a post on X, adding that Santos “was unfairly treated and put in solitary confinement, which is torture!!”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, however, slammed Trump for focusing on Santos instead of Americans’ health care — an issue at the center of the ongoing government shutdown.
“Donald Trump has time to free serial fraudster George Santos from prison. But he can’t be bothered to address the Republican healthcare crisis crushing working class Americans,” Jeffries said in a post on X.
In August 2024, the former congressman pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud charges stemming from activity during his 2022 midterm campaign.
“I deeply regret my conduct,” Santos said in court at that time. “I accept full responsibility for my actions.”
Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023, before completing a full term in the US House, becoming only the sixth lawmaker ever to be expelled from the chamber.
During his short time in Congress, reports emerged of Santos having fabricated parts of his biography, including his employment history and education. He eventually admitted to doing that.
Santos represented parts of Long Island and Queens and attempted to run in another New York district before pleading guilty.
Santos had been serving out his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, southern New Jersey, per the federal Bureau of Prisons.
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