President Trump announced that he has commuted former New York Rep. George Santos' sentence on Friday in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Washington

President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of former Republican congressman George Santos, who was serving several years in prison for identity theft and wire fraud. The announcement was made through a social media post, in which Trump compared Santos to other public figures and argued that he deserved a second chance. 

Santos, who had been sentenced to approximately seven years, will now be released from federal prison following the president's decision. The move has drawn attention due to Santos' controversial history and the president's public justification for the commutation.

President Trump commutes George Santos' sentence

All right. We have some breaking news for you this hour. President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of George Santos. CBS News White House reporter Willie James Inman joins me now with this. Willie, I don't know if you've had a chance to look at this statement. I haven't. We're all looking at it for the first time. Tell us more about what we know about why this happened and what the president is saying. Hey, there, Chanel. We're getting these details from the president in a social media post. He says that he's commuting the sentence of disgraced former Republican Congressman George Santos, who was serving several years in prison on identity theft and wire fraud charges. And the president, in this lengthy post, is saying that there were other people who certainly were disgraced people in society, comparing him to one particular individual, Senator Richard Blumenthal, to be exact, in this lengthy post. But he goes on to say that his sentence should be commuted. Now, we don't know much more than that. Remember, George Santos was serving several years, about seven years, when he would have to serve in prison. But the president is saying now that his sentence will be commuted. So we'll have to wait and see in terms of what happens next, when the former congressman will be released from federal prison after this news breaking just now. We're receiving it, but certainly a noteworthy development happening today with this commutation that the president has announced via social media, Chanel. And Willie James, I know that Marjorie Taylor Greene was calling for George Santos' seven-year sentence to be commuted. I just wonder, I know it's early stages, whether you're getting any reaction there. Yeah, well, certainly the former congressman does have his allies in Congress. When all of this came about, there were certainly individuals that tried to distance themselves from George Santos. But in this post, the president specifically says that he's not only commuting his sentence, but he said that he was a somewhat rogue person, but that there were other rogues throughout the country. And he annotated a specific Democratic senator in this post, comparing the two. Clearly, the president wanted to put that message out there that while Santos might not have been the best individual, but that he somehow deserves a second chance with this commutation that the president announced today, Chanel. Okay, interesting. Thank you so much, Willie James.

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Breakdown