President Trump's move to release expelled former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) from prison might be the most divisive use of his clemency and pardon powers since he granted full pardons to Jan. 6 rioters.
Santos's attorney Joseph Murray credited a number of MAGA movement stars in the House for helping him secure the grant of clemency: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).
But there are plenty of Republicans, including those who led the charge to expel Santos from the House, who are not happy at his release — and that he will no longer have to replay those he defrauded. In 2023, 105 Republicans — a sizeable minority — voted to oust him.
Santos's ex-colleagues in the House GOP from New York, many of whom were the biggest forces in expelling him from office ahead of his guilty plea and sentencing on fraud and embezzlement charges, are the most vocal in their discontent over the decision.
Rep. Nick LaLota (R-N.Y.) said on CNN that Santos is "distracting right now from President Trump's awesome accomplishments on the border, on the economy." Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.) on CNN called the commutation "a wrong decision," even if she thought the seven-year sentence was "harsh." Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.), who sat on the House Ethics Committee that investigated Santos in record time, said in a statement to Politico that the commutation "is not justice."
Discontent with Santos among Republicans extends far beyond New York. Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), for instance, alleged ahead of Santos's expulsion that he had personally defrauded Miller and Miller's mother by charging their credit cards without authorization, and that other GOP members "might have had the same experience."
Trump's commutation clears Santos from having to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution as part of his sentence. Santos said on CNN on Sunday that he would not pay any of that back if he is not required to by law.
"If I were the president, I might make a different decision," House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) told me of Santos's commutation.
But Harris didn't seem particularly concerned about the move. "I have stopped thinking about George Santos a long time ago," he added.
Whether more Republicans pipe up could depend on what Santos does next. One House Republican told me that "if he shuts the f— up," Republicans will get over it. But if "he goes back to being his egomaniac self," they won't be happy.
Chances of Santos staying in the limelight and causing more headaches seem high. Before he went to prison, Santos said it would be his "life's mission to out every fraud in Congress."
Santos on Sunday, though, brushed off the criticism from Republicans, pointing to former President Biden pardoning his son Hunter Biden.
"So pardon me if I'm not paying too much attention to the pearl-clutching of the outrage of my critics and of the people predominantly on the left who are going to go out there and try to make a big deal out of something like this," Santos said on CNN.
The Santos saga underscores the political reality for Republicans: When you're loyal to Trump, he'll let you do it.
Santos, who had written columns from prison for The North Shore Press documenting his struggles and time in lockup, had made "a passionate plea to President Trump" in the column published the Monday before his Friday commutation.
"A lifelong Republican and a proud believer in your America First vision, I never wavered. Supporting you wasn't just a political decision — it was personal," Santos wrote.
Santos wrote about being held in isolation due to alleged death threats, "locked inside a small steel cage twenty-four hours a day," pleading: "You have always been a man of second chances, a leader who believes in redemption and renewal."
Trump referenced Santos's loyalty and prison conditions in his Truth Social message announcing Santos's pardon: "Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN! George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated."
U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin posted that Santos "had no greater friend" than Greene, who in August had sent a letter to the Department of Justice asking for Santos's sentence to be commuted.
Boebert and Burchett this month had called for an investigation into the treatment of inmates at Santos's prison.
It also probably helped Santos that he shares Trump's knack for being an irresistibly entertaining character, making even his harshest critics laugh. It was only last week that I was remembering the bizarre time that Santos emerged from his office holding his staffers' baby as former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was being yelled at by pro-Palestine protesters.
Santos went straight back to Cameo as soon as he got out of prison, where he made hundreds of thousands of dollars before reporting for his sentence.
Per fellow Capitol Hill reporter Juliegrace Brufke, he said in his first Cameo video out of the hammer: "Diva up, because there is no more diva down!"
Further reading: Social Media, Pleas From Allies and Prison Essays: How Santos Won His Freedom, by Michael Gold in The New York Times… CNN's Dana Bash interviews Santos on "State of the Union"... Interview with FOX 5 New York…
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