Today's News: Trump Commutes George Santos’s Prison Sentence

Santos was serving an 87-month term for financial fraud charges, including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, to which he had pleaded guilty.

Terrence Dorsey

Oct 17, 2025

Photo: Adam Gray for The New York Times

Date: October 17, 2025
Summary: President Donald Trump announced on Friday, October 17, 2025, that he had commuted the prison sentence of former Representative George Santos, ordering his immediate release from federal prison. Santos was serving an 87-month term for financial fraud charges, including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, to which he had pleaded guilty. Trump cited Santos’s alleged “horrible mistreatment” and solitary confinement as primary reasons, also highlighting Santos’s loyalty to the Republican party. The decision followed public advocacy from some Republican allies, notably Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Sources

Key Points

President Donald Trump announced the immediate commutation of former Representative George Santos’s prison sentence via social media.
Trump stated his decision was based on Santos being “horribly mistreated” and enduring “long stretches of solitary confinement” during his imprisonment.
Several articles indicate Trump also cited Santos’s consistent Republican voting record and political loyalty as a factor in his decision.
George Santos had been serving an 87-month (more than seven years) sentence after pleading guilty to federal charges, including wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Santos’s crimes involved defrauding campaign donors, making false statements, and misusing campaign funds, leading to his expulsion from Congress in late 2023.
Republican allies, particularly Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, publicly advocated for Santos’s commutation, with Greene reportedly contacting the Department of Justice.
Santos reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, in July to begin his sentence.

Unique Highlights

CNN reports that Santos had previously told a Saudi outlet, Al Arabiya English, that he asked Trump for a pardon but believed he “got stonewalled,” and that he later wrote an open letter to Trump from prison, published in The South Shore Press, pleading for “fairness” and taking “full responsibility.”
The New York Times specifies that during his plea hearing, Santos acknowledged lying to Congress, stealing money from campaign donors, and fraudulently collecting unemployment benefits. The Washington Post provides extensive detail on Santos’s admitted fabrications, including his education, employment at Wall Street firms, and false claims about his mother’s 9/11 presence and grandparents fleeing the Holocaust.
NBC News includes insights from senior White House officials who stated that Trump made the decision this week due to “overwhelming” reach-outs from “many people.”
NBC News highlights Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s specific argument for Santos’s commutation, where she stated, “George Santos never raped anybody, never murdered anybody, is not a child sex-trafficker. Why is he in solitary confinement?”
The Washington Post clarifies the legal impact of a commutation, noting it “does not change the fact of conviction, imply innocence, or remove civil disabilities.”
Both NBC News and The Washington Post provide broader context on Trump’s extensive use of clemency power during his second term, listing examples such as January 6 rioters, former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, and others, with The Washington Post also mentioning a pardoned sheriff and gang leader.
The Washington Post and Fox News specifically quote Trump’s social media post where he renewed an attack on Senator Richard Blumenthal, stating Blumenthal’s actions were “far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

Contrasting Details

According to some contemporaneous reports, Santos requested special housing (“solitary confinement”) when he surrendered to the prison as protection from alleged death threats, then immediately complained about being “forced into solitary confinement” after the fact. See the following for details.
- George Santos surrenders to New Jersey prison for 7-year sentence (CBS News, July 25, 2025)
- George Santos in solitary confinement after alleged death threat (The Seattle Times, Sep. 17, 2025)

There is a slight discrepancy regarding the precise timing of Santos’s sentencing and plea. NBC News states Santos was sentenced in April. The New York Times, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal indicate he pleaded guilty in 2024 (or August 2024, per CNN) and began serving his 87-month sentence in July, implying the sentencing occurred closer to his July surrender or earlier in 2024 rather than specifically April as a definitive sentencing month across all reports.
The New York Times reports that in an August interview, Trump said, “Nobody’s talked to me about it” concerning a pardon for Santos, suggesting he had not been approached directly at that time. Conversely, CNN reports that Santos had told Al Arabiya English before his surrender that he asked Trump for a pardon but believed he “got stonewalled,” indicating a prior attempt by Santos to seek clemency that he felt did not reach the President.

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