US Politics
Disgraced George Santos ‘decompressing’ from ‘traumatic’ prison time after being released early by Trump
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
George Santos is “decompressing” from what his lawyer described as a “traumatic experience” behind bars just one day after he was released from prison following President Trump’s decision to commute the disgraced ex-congressman’s sentence.
Santos, 37, served just 84 days of the more than seven-year sentence handed down in April for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft – charges stemming from his elaborate schemes to deceive donors and steal the identities of 11 people, including family members, to fund his campaign.
On Saturday, Santos’ lawyer, Joseph Murray, toldthat his client is currently decompressing and declined to share where he is staying.
“Now is not a good time, I just got here, I’m meeting with him and we just want to let him decompress a little bit,” attorney Joseph Murray told the paper.
“He was released last night. Let’s give him – let’s respect his and his family’s privacy and let them decompress a little. It’s a traumatic experience as you can imagine.”
open image in gallery
Santos, who was sentenced in April, had been housed in a minimum-security prison camp at FCI Fairton in New Jersey since July 25.
Less than three months later, he was released late Friday night, just hours after Trump announced on X that he had commuted the former congressman’s sentence.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He went on to praise Santos for having “the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”
The former president also claimed that Santos “has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated.”
Santos had reportedly been in solitary confinement since August, allegedly due to a death threat against him. Earlier in the week, Santos made a public plea to Trump for mercy.
open image in gallery
“I have faced my share of consequences, and I take full responsibility for my actions,” Santos wrote in a letter to the president published by The South Shore Press. “But no man, no matter his flaws, deserves to be lost in the system, forgotten and unseen, enduring punishment far beyond what justice requires.”
Once hailed as a rising Republican star, he was expelled from Congress in 2023 after admitting to a series of fabrications about his personal and professional life – from claiming Jewish heritage and a Wall Street career to falsely saying his mother survived the 9/11 attacks.
Santos pleaded guilty last August to defrauding voters to fund his congressional campaign, stealing credit card information, and lying to the Federal Election Commission. He was ordered to pay $580,000 in penalties, including restitution.
His commutation adds to Trump’s growing list of controversial acts of clemency, including pardons and sentence reductions for January 6 rioters and for Paul Walczak, a former nursing home executive convicted of tax crimes whose mother had raised millions for Trump’s campaigns.
