President Donald Trump blindsided legal observers on Friday with an announcement he was commuting the sentence of former Rep. George Santos (R-NY), who pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds over a series of brazen schemes that included stealing his own campaign donors' credit card information and falsifying campaign finance reports.
His explanation for the move appeared to confuse the reasons Santos had been criminally charged in the first place, made a strained comparison to Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), misleading voters about his military service 15 years ago, implied Santos deserved mercy for being a loyal Republican, and directed him to "have a great life."
Commenters on social media were stunned at this decision, given Santos was not only caught dead to rights, but was also an outcast even within the GOP and was expelled from Congress in an overwhelming bipartisan vote.
"Trump explicitly states he set Santos free because he votes Republican," wrote security clearance attorney Bradley Moss.
"Trump releases fraudster George Santos from prison for (R)easons," wrote First Amendment lawyer Adam Steinbaugh. "'Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!' Toe the party line and you, too, can avoid prison."
"Trump commutes sentence of George Santos. He's immediately released from prison. What a madman," wrote former U.S. Attorney and law professor Harry Litman, adding, "How much stronger an indication do we need that Trump is indifferent to criminal conduct and attuned solely to loyalty to himself. George Friggin' Santos! just beyond belief..."
"George Santos pleaded guilty to identity theft and wire fraud, a small part of his lying and stealing that really hurt people," wrote Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA). "Trump says it plainly: crimes don’t count if you 'vote Republican.' Just like his pardons of those who violently attacked police. Naked corruption."
"Trump, the pro-crime president, just commuted the sentence of George Santos," wrote Democratic influencer Harry Sisson. "It is pathetic how openly corrupt this administration is. If you commit a bunch of fraud, they’ll bail you out. Insanity."
"Trump commuting George Santos’s sentence confirms my deep belief that he’s gonna pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, Diddy, and anybody else willing to be a useful idiot for his corruption and fascism," wrote political strategist Mike Nellis.
"Trump has pardoned pedophiles, cop-beaters, woman-beaters and George Santos. That doesn’t include the pardons he sold," wrote political strategist Adam Parkhomenko. "But tell me more about how we need the military to stop crime."
"Yet another politically-connected criminal loser gets to walk free after hundreds of hours spent by law enforcement to investigate and successfully prosecute," wrote former Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer.
"Charge Bolton with federal crimes, commute George Santos's prison sentence. All in a week's work for Trump," wrote conservative pundit Jeff Blehar. "I hope we regard this era as a terrible anomaly in our legal framework, but I fear it will instead be seen as the moment when things changed permanently for the worse."
