Former New York Republican representative George Santos expressed gratitude for President Donald Trump‘s commutation, noting that he would like to engage in prison reform initiatives.
Santos told CNN‘s Dana Bash on Sunday, “I’m very grateful to President Trump, Dana, and I sit here quite literally — I don’t know how much more humbled I can get before people believe I’m humble or remorseful, but I can just do the best in my actions moving forward.”
Santos said that he told Trump that he would “love to be involved with prison reform, and not in a partisan way — in real human ways, 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.”
“If I can be a part of helping that, I think that would be a great road to follow in the future,” he added.
On Friday, Trump commuted Santo’s prison sentence after the Republican lawmaker received a seven-year sentence for money laundering and wire fraud, among other charges. Santos served less than three months in prison.
Bash said some have criticized Trump’s action to commute Santo’s sentence, citing the former congressman as one of his “loyal allies.”
“I’m pretty confident if President Trump had pardoned Jesus Christ off the cross, he would have had critics,” Santos said.
In July, Santos was imprisoned in a New Jersey facility after being accused of embezzling contributions from supporters, illegally obtaining unemployment benefits, and falsely reporting his finances in House disclosures. He was expelled from the House after serving less than a year in 2023.
TRUMP COMMUTES ‘ROGUE’ EX-HOUSE REPUBLICAN GEORGE SANTO’S SENTENCE
Santos is not ruling out a congressional bid in the future. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said that if Santos were reelected, he would welcome him back into the conference.
“Well, of course. I mean, that’s our system,” Johnson told Fox News.
