Trump commutes George Santos's federal prison sentence

President Donald Trump on Friday commuted the more-than-seven-year federal prison sentence of former U.S. Representative George Santos, who had been serving time after pleading guilty to fraud and identity theft. Trump announced the action on his social media account, saying Santos would be released immediately from the federal correctional facility where he had been housed.

Santos, a Republican from New York, was sentenced in April after admitting he deceived political donors and used the identities of 11 people, including family members, to make campaign contributions. He reported to Federal Correctional Institution Fairton in southern New Jersey on July 25 and had been held in a minimum security prison camp. Court orders also required Santos to pay restitution of $373,749.97 and forfeiture of $205,002.97.

In his social media post, Trump wrote that Santos had been "somewhat of a rogue" but argued that many others are not serving comparable sentences. The president repeated claims that Santos had been placed in solitary confinement and described him as having been "horribly mistreated," and he compared Santos's case to that of Senator Richard Blumenthal. Trump wrote, "I just...