By Bostyon Johnson
After former congressman George Santos (R-NY) was granted clemency, he set his eyes on reforming the criminal justice system by supporting those dealing with harsh conditions.
“They don’t have a voice like I did. They don’t have the support system I had. So, that’s why I want to be that support system,” Santos said on Meghan McCain’s show, Citizen McCain. “I think we need to revisit how we do jail in this country, how we do prison. If we’re not going to put them in prison to reform them and reintegrate them back into the communities, we are creating monsters.”
Santos plead guilty to wire fraud. He was sentenced to seven years in prison, but his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump after Santos served three months.
Prosecutors disagreed with the length of time Santos spent behind bars and said that President Trump’s clemency grant minimized the time, money, and resources that were dedicated the case.
“To bring a case to trial is just an incredible effort and use of department resources,” said John Kelly, the former acting head of the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section.
The president of the United States has the “Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in cases of Impeachment”.
During Trump’s presidency, clemency was granted to 1,677 people charged in the January 6th Capital riots and/or interference with the 2020 elections. As of January 20, 2026, 90 individual cases were pardoned, even though only 12 were five years into their sentenced time.
Santos, former congressman of New York told Bloomberg Law that he plans to pay back his victims and explore media opportunities. In a Bloomberg Law article, Santos said he would like assistance from Trump and his administration to reform the nation’s prison system.
“I don’t want to make money off of my activism because then it becomes murky, and then I’ll just become another grafter,” said Santos.
Joe Murray, attorney for Santos commended him for securing his own release. He also gave advice to others who are seeking to get out of prison.
“My advice is to be persistent, because that’s what it was,” Murray said. “It was making the calls, reaching out to people, and reinforcing.”
Douglas Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University said the power of granting clemency is a king-like power.
“We are creating an environment of failure, so people are prone to make poor choices to survive, and then they’re thrown in prison and treated inhumanely,” Santos said on Meghan McCain’s show “Citizen McCain.”
Petitioners of pardons are supposed to wait five years after completing their sentence to apply for clemency.
“The decision to put it in the hands of the president is a decision to allow it to be very politicized,” said Berman. “Certainly, the president’s definition conceptually of, when is the system being cruel, is definitely shaped by politics in a variety of ways.”