Marjorie Taylor Greene asks for George Santos' sentence to be commuted
Santos, a 37-year-old Republican from New York, reported to the Federal Correctional Institution Flatiron Satellite Camp in New Jersey on Friday, July 25 to begin a seven-year prison sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Santos pleaded guilty to the charges last year.
Less than two weeks after the disgraced politician's sentence began, Greene, a Republican from Georgia, sent a letter to Pardon Attorney Edward R Martin requesting that he urge the president to take action on the matter.
'I wholeheartedly believe in justice and the rule of the law and I understand the gravity of such actions,' wrote Greene. 'However, I believe a seven-year sentence for such campaign-related matters for an individual with no prior criminal record extends far beyond what is warranted.'
Greene continued her letter, stating Santos is 'sincerely remorseful and has accepted full responsibility for his actions.'
She alleged: 'Many of my colleagues who I serve with have committed far worse offenses than Mr. Santos yet have faced zero criminal charges.'
Newsmax's Rob Finnerty asked the president about intervening in Santos' case in an interview that aired on Friday, Aug. 1. Trump said Santos 'lied like hell,' but 'he was 100 percent for Trump.'
Trump said he didn't know Santos and wasn't sure if he had ever met him. While no one specifically asked him to intervene in the case, the president agreed that seven years is 'a long time.'
He didn't rule out the possibility of commuting Santos' sentence, telling Finnerty: 'I have the right to do it.'
In his second administration, Trump's already granted 58 pardons and 12 commutations. On the president's first day in office, he granted clemency to every person charged or convicted for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
More recently, he pardoned reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley. The couple was convicted of fraud and tax evasion in 2022. Their daughter, Savannah Chrisley, has been a staunch Trump supporter and endorsed the president in a speech at the 2020 Republican National Convention.
Shortly after Santos won the New York Third Congressional District election in 2022, media outlets discovered he had lied about much of his past, including a career on Wall Street, connections to the Holocaust and the Sept. 11 attacks.
Parts of his resume also were called into question. In December 2023, he was expelled by his fellow congressional members.
Santos had a history of advocating for the president's agenda and found himself aligned with other lawmakers who shared similar ideals, including Greene.
Shortly after arriving in prison, Santos wrote an op-ed for The South Shore Press, a Long Island, New York-area newspaper, which was published on Monday, Aug. 4.
'As I crossed the threshold of the dormitory and took my first steps into what would become my new reality, I caught a glimpse of myself in the small, scratched mirror held up by one of the inmates,' wrote Santos.
'That image – me, hollow-eyed, clad in state-issued polyester – hit me like a punch to the gut.'
Michelle Del Rey is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Contact her at mdelrey@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marjorie Taylor Greene asks Trump to commute George Santos' sentence
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