Jorge Santos was released early after Trump commuted his fraud sentence

When George Santos Released from prison less than three months into his sentence, he took with him what remained of his credibility with law enforcement.

The ousted former congressman, whose 7-year sentence was commuted by President Trump, isn’t just a clownish liar who invented wild stories about himself. He is a scam artist who extorts a lot of money from his victims and then pleads guilty.

But there is a bigger question about Trump Department of Justice And whether large sums of money are being used to investigate his political enemies also include using his pardon power to keep favorable crooks, mostly Republicans, off the legal hook.

On the offensive end, the president has ordered investigations of political foes like James Comey and Letitia James — including Adam Schiff and George Soros — both of whom were indicted by a loyalist after a professional prosecutor was fired for insufficient evidence.

Jorge Santos vows not to ‘let Trump down’ after surprise release, says he found God in prison

On the defensive end, Trump has already pardoned Roger Stone, Paul Manafort and Charles Kushner (Jared’s father) at the end of his first term. and pardoned the January 6 rioters after regaining the White House.

honestly, Joe Biden To protect his allies from Trump, including his son Hunter, of course, he granted several last-minute preemptive pardons.

But here’s the thing. The DOJ spent thousands of dollars investigating Santos, gathering evidence and bringing him before a grand jury.

President Trump slams disgraced former Republican George Santos, RN.Y. His prison sentence was reduced. (Tribune News Service via Theodore Parisien/New York Daily News/Getty Images)

Former MP fraudulently claims unemployment benefits.

He diverted money from his donors for personal expenses, charging $11,000 to one victim’s credit card for designer clothes at Hermes and Sephora, cosmetics, Onlifans purchases and Botox. Botox was probably the most important expense for him.

So given the get-out-of-jail-free card he was ultimately given, the entire investigation was a waste of money.

He claimed to be a star volleyball player at a college he never attended. He claimed he ran a pet charity (false) and raised money for surgery on a service dog, who wasn’t really sick.

He claimed his mother was killed in the World Trade Center on 9/11. He claimed his Jewish grandparents fled the Nazis, but records show they lived. in Brazil; He later insisted that he never said he was Jewish. He claimed 13 properties and a salary of $750,000, both false. He claimed that he had produced a Spider-Man flop on Broadway.

Most notably, he claimed to have worked for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, with no record of his being there – a false claim meant to give him street cred to raise money.

Jorge Santos expressed his gratitude to Trump after his 7-year prison sentence was commuted

Santos became a national punchline. But it was no joke in the House, where more than 100 Republicans joined Democrats at the end of 2023.

Another Trump tactic is to put the brakes on current investigations, depending on his political preferences, which retroactively turns these investigations into an exercise in futility. And that may include Democrats.

Mayor of New York City Eric AdamsSome of his top aides were indicted, including Trump, who was indicted on corruption charges related to Turkey when he took office. Adams had supported Trump on illegal immigration, and the president closed the investigation — again a waste of taxpayer money for law enforcement efforts.

Trump also pardoned former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who was serving a 14-year sentence for trying to sell Barack Obama’s old Senate seat in a shakedown effort. His sentence was commuted by the President in his first term.

Trump’s pardons and commutations can cross party lines – just ask former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (Charles Rex Arbogast/AP Photo)

But back to Santos. By the time the New York Times exposed Santos’ fake resume, he had been elected to Congress from Long Island.

But the North Shore Leader, a local paper, exposed him before the election.

“We smelled all the lies,” publisher Grant Lally told PBS’ “NewsHour,” adding: “We knew Santos was a fraud.”

It was “very disappointing” that no one had taken up the matter before the election. “We sent the paper to many local organizations, to many media outlets.”

Santos caught Trump’s attention after writing a column on prison life. (Stephen Nadler/ISI Photos/ISI Photos and Win McNamee/Getty Images via Getty Images)

I wish he had sent it to me. The national press was otherwise busy with the occasion New York the story

I have never met Santos and have nothing against him. It just became a national embarrassment.

Santos caught Trump’s attention by writing a column on prison life for Long Island’s South Shore Press. Trump said the convicted felon had been held in solitary confinement for long periods of time and “was treated very badly.”

Subscribe to Howie’s Media Buzzmeter podcast, a round-up of the hottest stories of the day

A rap against Santos is one he never relented much.

On CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, he said: “People are going to hate me. I don’t care who gets pardoned in the future, whoever that person is. I absolutely believe that if President Trump had pardoned Jesus Christ from the cross, he would have been criticized. That’s the reality of our country.”

Geez.

Click here to get the Fox News app

When the story of his serialization first broke, former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, now Director of National Intelligence, sharply questioned Santos during an interview with Fox, demanding:

“Aren’t you ashamed?”

This question is still up in the air.