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Santos shrugs off outrage over Trump’s clemency: 'Pearl clutching'
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Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 19, 2025
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 19, 2025
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Former U.S. Rep. George Santos said his 84 days behind bars were “a very large slice of humble pie,” but he still brushed off the “pearl clutching” of those criticizing President Donald Trump’s decision to commute his sentence.
Santos served only three months of a seven-year sentence in federal prison for fraud and identity theft. In a CNN interview Sunday, the disgraced former lawmaker dismissed Republicans and Democrats who argued that such a short stint was not justice.
“I am not paying too much attention to the pearl clutching of the outrage of my critics and of the people predominantly on the left who are going to go out there and try to make a big deal out of something like this,” he said. “It is known that presidents have the power of the pardon and the clemency, which are plenary.”
Some New York Republicans criticized the commutation over the weekend, saying Santos has not made restitution or shown remorse. Santos said he intends to focus on his future.
When asked whether he would repay donors he had previously pleaded guilty to defrauding, Santos said he would only do so if required.
“I can do my best to do whatever the law requires of me. I have been out of prison for two days,” he said. “If it is required of me by the law, yes. If it is not, then no.”
Santos also said he left prison with a new purpose: pushing for reform.
“Prison is not rehabilitating anybody. It's actually creating recidivism because it's not doing what it's supposed to do," he said. "I told this to the president that I'd love to be involved with prison reform and not in a partisan way, in a real human way, in a way that we affect it, that it helps society, it helps these individuals rebuild their lives and we have a better system with less incarcerated people.”
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