Trump’s Commutation of George Santos: An Abuse of Pardon Power
By: Asha Navaratsingam
Edited by: Alexandra Stillman and Christina Ding
This April, former New York Republican congressman George Santos was sentenced to over seven years in prison after pleading guilty to committing wife fraud and aggravated identity theft. [1] He was first indicted in 2023 and pleaded not guilty, but was expelled from the House of Representatives after substantial evidence was discovered. [2] In August 2024, he admitted to charges of fraud, including falsely claiming relatives had contributed to his campaign, charging donor credit cards without authorization, and applying for and receiving unemployment benefits he was not entitled to. [3]
A long-time supporter of President Trump, Santos has said Trump was “at his full awesomeness” during the events of January 6th, 2021, [4] and he attended a pro-Trump rally protesting his arraignment in 2023. [5] When he was sentenced in April, he called on President Trump to intervene. In his post on X, he claimed his charge was “over the top” and “politically influenced” and requested that Trump give him a “chance to prove I’m more than the mistakes I’ve made.” [6] On Monday, October 13th, Santos wrote a letter to Trump appealing to his “sense of justice and humanity” and asking “for the chance to rebuild.” [7] Four days later, Trump announced he had signed a commutation that would immediately release Santos from prison [8] after 84 days of an 87-month imprisonment, meaning Santos served about three percent of his sentence. [9] This clemency grant gave Santos "immediate commutation of his entire sentence to time served with no further fines, restitution, probation, supervised release, or other conditions," [10] clearing him of a requirement to pay nearly $400,000 to victims of his crimes.
[11] In a statement on Truth Social about his decision, Trump claimed that Santos had “been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time” and was “horribly mistreated.” [12] However, prior to his prison sentence, Santos demanded that he be placed in solitary confinement to preserve his dignity. [13] After being released, he has argued that he is “not getting away with his crimes” and has been “dealt a second chance.” He has agreed to “do [his] best to do whatever the law requires” regarding paying back donors. [14]
Trump’s commutation of Santos is one of over 1,600 pardons he has issued in his secondterm alone, [15] considerably more than the one-term average of around 400. [16] After the Supreme Court’sruling granting pardons “absolute immunity” in Trump v. United States (2024), [17] Trump has been freeto politicize his clemency actions, focusing on “individuals he has deemed victims of politicallymotivated prosecutions.” [18] Specifically, he has pardoned roughly 1,500 peoplewith charges related to the January 6th Capitol attack, [19] including those with criminal history whoassaulted police officers during the attack. [20] This sentiment was evident in Trump’s Truth Social post announcing the pardon, in which hehighlighted that "Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTEREPUBLICAN!” [21] This brings up a question regarding the extent to which Santos’ politicalloyalty to Trump incited his pardon, and furthermore, the extent to which one’s political alignment with the president couldundermine the rule of law. [22]
Notes:
1. Terkel, Amanda, Katherine Doyle, and Adam Reiss. “Trump Commutes Former Rep. George Santos’ Prison Sentence.” NBCNews.com, October 18, 2025.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-commutes-sentence-george-santos-rcna238293.
2. Ibid.
3. Murray, Isabella. “Santos Says He’s Not Getting Away with His Crimes after Trump Commuted His Sentence.” ABC News, October 19, 2025.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/santos-crimes-after-trump-commuted-sentence/story?id=126664854.
4. McFadden, Alcye. “A Timeline of George Santos’s Rise and Fall - the New York Times.” The New York Times, April 25, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/nyregion/george-santos-timeline.html.
5. “George Santos Remains Defiant after Attending Rally at NYC Courthouse to Show Support for Trump.” ABC7 New York, April 5, 2023. https://abc7ny.com/post/george-santos-marjorie-taylor-greene-donald-trump-arraignment/13085498/.
6. Santos, George (@MrSantosNY). “This is the hardest statement I have ever written. I write this humbled, chastened, and fully accountable for choices that shattered the faith so many placed in…” Twitter, April 25, 2025, 8:28pm.
https://x.com/MrSantosNY/status/1915941079360098567?s=20
7. Santos, George. “Santos in Solitary: A Passionate Plea to President Trump.” South Shore Press, October 13, 2025.
https://southshorepress.com/stories/675756835-santos-in-solitary-a-passionate-plea-to-president-trump.
8. Ibid, 1.
9. Zirin, James D. “Clemency for George Santos and a Pardon Power Run Amok.” The Hill, October 28, 2025.
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/5574891-trump-pardon-power-abuse/.
10. Ibid, 3.
11. Gardner, Akayla. “Trump’s Santos Commutation Fits a Pattern of His Second Term.” MS Now, October 21, 2025.
https://www.ms.now/news/news-analysis/george-santos-trump-pardon-second-term-project-47-rcna238694.
12. Trump, Donald (@RealDonaldTrump). “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. I started to think…” TruthSocial, October 18, 2025, 5:04 pm.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115391767709119144
13. Santos, George (@MrSantosNY). “I want to make this publicly known so that the DOJ or the BOP never get away with saying otherwise. No matter how long I go away I want and demand I be kept…” Twitter, April 5, 2025, 2:58pm.
https://x.com/Georgesantos/status/1908610264154726814
14. Ibid, 3.
15. Ibid, 11.
16. “Executive Clemency and Presidential Pardons.” Ballotpedia, December 3, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Executive_clemency_and_presidential_pardons.
17. Trump v. United States (U.S. July 1, 2024).
18. Ibid, 11.
19. Ibid, 3.
20. Ibid, 9.
21. Ibid, 12.
22. Ibid, 12.
Bibliography
“Executive Clemency and Presidential Pardons.” Ballotpedia, December 3, 2025. https://ballotpedia.org/Executive_clemency_and_presidential_pardons.
Gardner, Akayla. “Trump’s Santos Commutation Fits a Pattern of His Second Term.” MSNBC, October 21, 2025.
https://www.msnbc.com/news/news-analysis/george-santos-trump-pardon-second-term-project-47-rcna238694.
“George Santos Remains Defiant after Attending Rally at NYC Courthouse to Show Support for Trump.” ABC7 New York, April 5, 2023. https://abc7ny.com/post/george-santos-marjorie-taylor-greene-donald-trump-arraignment/13085498/.
McFadden, Alcye. “A Timeline of George Santos’s Rise and Fall - the New York Times.” The New York Times, April 25, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/25/nyregion/george-santos-timeline.html.
Murray, Isabella. “Santos Says He’s Not Getting Away with His Crimes after Trump Commuted His Sentence.” ABC News, October 19, 2025.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/santos-crimes-after-trump-commuted-sentence/story?id=126664854.
Santos, George (@MrSantosNY). “I want to make this publicly known so that the DOJ or the BOP never get away with saying otherwise. No matter how long I go away I want and
demand I be kept…” Twitter, April 5, 2025, 2:58pm.
https://x.com/MrSantosNY/status/1915941079360098567?s=20
Santos, George (@MrSantosNY). “This is the hardest statement I have ever written. I write this humbled, chastened, and fully accountable for choices that shattered the faith so many placed in…” Twitter, April 25, 2025, 8:28pm.
https://x.com/MrSantosNY/status/1915941079360098567?s=20
Santos, George. “Santos in Solitary: A Passionate Plea to President Trump.” South Shore Press, October 13, 2025.
https://southshorepress.com/stories/675756835-santos-in-solitary-a-passionate-plea-to-president-trump.
Terkel, Amanda, Katherine Doyle, and Adam Reiss. “Trump Commutes Former Rep. George Santos’ Prison Sentence.” NBCNews.com, October 18, 2025.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-commutes-sentence-george-santos-rcna238293.
Trump, Donald (@RealDonaldTrump). “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. I started to think…” TruthSocial, October 18, 2025, 5:04 pm.
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115391767709119144
Trump v. United States (U.S. July 1, 2024).
Zirin, James D. “Clemency for George Santos and a Pardon Power Run Amok.” The Hill, October 28, 2025.
https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/5574891-trump-pardon-power-abuse/.