Former Congressman George Santos said he was “degraded and dehumanized” by prison wardens in his first public statement since President Donald Trump commuted his sentence.
The disgraced former New York Congressman had served just 84 days of his seven-year sentence when the president announced Friday he had commuted his sentence, which was handed down in April after the 37-year-old pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft stemming from several schemes to deceive donors and steal identities to fund his campaign.
In his first public comments since leaving New Jersey’s FCI Fairton, Santos posted on X that he holds “no anger toward anyone” — but then bashed two prison wardens by name: “No one should ever be dehumanized or degraded like I was by the FCI Fairton Warden Kelly and Assistant Warden Nobile.”
The Independent has asked the prison for comment.
It’s not immediately clear what Santos was referring to, but he told CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning that he had been placed in “segregated isolation after 41 days for [absolutely] no valid reason other than a retaliatory warden.” His lawyer told the New York Post Saturday that his client was “decompressing” from a “traumatic experience” behind bars.
Santos, who was expelled from Congress in 2023, said he plans to dedicate his focus to “prison reform and accountability, ensuring that those in power uphold the dignity and humanity of every person in their care.” These efforts were “inspired by President Trump’s work toward peace in the Middle East,” he added.
He’s re-entering the world beyond prison walls as a “new man,” Santos said. “I do not carry shame, I carry purpose. My goal now is to turn my past into something meaningful, to help create a justice system that truly believes in rehabilitation and second chances,” he wrote.
In the lengthy social media post, he thanked his friends, family, and the president.
He spoke with Trump on Saturday, he said.
The ex-Republican Congressman reflected on that conversation with CNN’s Dana Bash Sunday morning.
“The president was very kind, and it was a humble experience to have the privilege of speaking to the sitting president of the United States,” he said, noting that “where I come from that’s not just something that happens…it’s not normal.”
Bash then quipped: “It’s also not normal for a president to commute the sentence of somebody like you, who pled guilty to the crimes that you did.”
Santos said he learned his sentence was being commuted by watching prison TV.
“I wasn’t even aware until I learned it off the chyron of mainstream media inside the prison myself,” he said. He was in the other room when the news popped up on TV and other inmates called him over to the see it, he said.
“I called my family, and they told me it had happened. I was not aware. It was a surprise,” he told Bash.
The president announced he had commuted the former congressman’s sentence on Friday. “George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
The court had ordered Santos to serve 87 months in prison and to pay $370,000 in restitution to his victims. However, Santos is no longer required to pay any further fines, restitution, probation or other conditions, according to a copy of the grant of clemency posted by U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin.
