MTG asks Trump to pardon former GOP Rep. George Santos

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is asking President Trump to pardon former Republican Rep. George Santos, who began his seven-year prison sentence on fraud charges last month.

Ms. Greene, Georgia Republican, sent a letter to the Justice Department on Monday in an appeal for Santos, who represented New York during his brief stint in Congress. 

In the letter, Ms. Greene said the sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft charges “extends far beyond what is warranted.” 

“I strongly believe in accountability for one’s actions, but I believe the sentencing of Mr. Santos is an abusive overreach by the judicial system,” she wrote.

“Commuting his sentence would acknowledge the severity of his actions and simultaneously offer a path forward in allowing him to make amends for his crimes and strive to better serve the people in his community,” Ms. Greene continued. 

Santos was sentenced in April and reported to federal prison in New Jersey on July 25. He became famous after The New York Times reported several outlandish lies in his biography during his congressional campaign of 2022. Among the lies he told were where he attended school, his job history, his Jewish ancestry and his mother dying in the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. 

A scathing House Ethics Committee report in 2023 detailed Santos’ falsehoods, misuse of campaign funds and falsifying financial records. The report triggered a House vote to expel him that year. 

When asked on Friday about the possibility of pardoning Santos, Mr. Trump noted the former New York congressman’s wrongdoing but didn’t rule out clemency.

“Nobody’s talked to me about it,” he said in an interview with Newsmax. 

Santos said he has repeatedly asked the Trump administration for a pardon. In a social media post weeks before he reported to prison, Santos said House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, “blocked” the Trump administration from granting him clemency. 

Santos pleaded guilty last year to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He owes at least $370,000 in restitution.