Santos freed, justice betrayed

President Donald Trump’s unwarranted release from prison of George Anthony Devolder Santos is another mockery of the American justice system. 

The commutation has generated a well-justified bipartisan mix of public condemnations. But Trump is exercising one of the more regal privileges of the presidency set in the Constitution. He will not be held accountable for this amazing disgrace.

Santos, elected on a false resume and having admitted to devious thievery, was expelled from the Republican-controlled House in December 2023. He pleaded guilty to his crimes and on July 25 he began serving a 7-year, 3-month sentence on multiple felonies related to credit card rip-offs, abusing campaign funds, and stealing COVID-19 unemployment benefits.

Now, less than 90 days after entering a federal correctional facility in New Jersey, Santos is free. His friends at the top level of the Justice Department also made sure he’s off the hook on his agreement to pay nearly $400,000 in restitution to victims.

After Santos' sentencing in April at the federal courthouse in Central Islip, John J. Durham, then the administration’s interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, declared Santos had been "held accountable for the mountain of lies, theft, and fraud he perpetrated. For the defendant, it was judgment day, and for his many victims including campaign donors, political parties, government agencies, elected bodies, his own family members, and his constituents, it is justice." 

But in his social media post, Trump said that, while a "rogue," "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. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!"

Trump actually means Santos has "courage, conviction and intelligence" to lavishly shill for his president. What kind of Republican "law-and-order" philosophy is this?

The president is correct only about where Santos’ loyalties lie. The day before the siege at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Santos was recorded telling a MAGA group in Washington that he, like Trump, was the victim of election fraud when he first ran for Congress in 2020 and lost. As usual, it was a lie.

Bipartisan criticism and words of dissent have rightly followed Trump’s surprise gift to the 37-year-old grifter. Long Island’s Republicans who fought uphill in the House to have Santos expelled and investigated — and who were viciously condemned by the "rogue" for doing so -- are clearly embarrassed but too afraid to bluntly blast Trump.

Nationally, this is the latest sign of a dangerous bias that Trump is injecting into the Justice Department to concoct some prosecutions and cancel others based on his personal interests. In an unprecedented way, he’s been openly demanding his appointees target specific Democrats for charges of dubious merit. During his two terms, Trump has fully pardoned nine former GOP members of Congress convicted of crimes, including ex-Reps. Chris Collins and Michael Grimm of New York.

Despite expressing humility in a flowery statement adulating Trump and vowing to become a better person, Santos impudently told CNN: "… Pardon me if I’m not paying too much attention to the pearl-clutching of the outrage of my critics." He should be forced to say this before a meeting of his former constituents on Long Island's North Shore for a little reality check.

The commutation has done more than free Santos. It has given him a new round of uninhibited celebrity, a chance for TV, podcasts, and more. He’s back on the celebrity-for-hire Cameo platform where he made hundreds of thousands of dollars before his incarceration. Just before he entered prison, it cost $55 for one of his "instant videos" to gift someone as a prank. As of Sunday, the fee was $300. 

The joke doesn't need a punch line. 

Basking in his return to celebrity, Santos was asked on Fox and Friends Sunday if he might return to public office. Santos said, "I'm not ruling it out ... I'm 37 years old, so I have time..."

That sounds like a punch line. But what just happened to our justice system is no joke.