(NewsNation) — Former Republican Congressman George Santos, freed from federal prison last week after a commutation from President Trump, is telling a new story about whether he’ll repay the victims he defrauded.
Santos was ordered to pay more than $370,000 in restitution, as part of his 87-month sentence for wire fraud and identity theft, but the president’s clemency order wiped those debts clean. On his image-rehabilitation tour in recent days, Santos told some media outlets he would not repay the money because he was not legally obligated to do so.
On Wednesday’s “CUOMO,” Santos appeared to pivot to a new response: He’ll try.
“Look, I don’t have to, but I want to,” he said of the restitution he had been ordered to pay. “I guess that would definitely be a great start for me to prove to people that my actions are different than my past words and actions and transgressions.”
Santos said any repayments would need to go through some sort of “official mechanism” for disbursement. He said his legal team is working on it.
“You can’t just nilly willy go up to people and say, ‘Oh, here’s a check,’” Santos said.
In his plea agreement, Santos, once a young and rising star in the Republican Party, admitted to stealing money from donors and committing credit card fraud. His brief career in Congress was tarnished by scandals that included puffing up his biography for the 2022 midterm elections.
The clemency granted by Trump is the latest example of the president coming to the rescue of a GOP member convicted in federal court. In announcing the Santos commutation on social media, Trump called the former lawmaker “somewhat of a ‘rogue’” but said he “had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”
Santos disagreed the president’s commutations have been based on political considerations, noting that Trump also wiped the slate clean for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat who was convicted of public corruption charges.
“I think it’s disingenuous to think that this is political, but I understand the concern,” he said.
George Santos says he’s ‘looking into’ repaying fraud victims IUSTITIA.BG – Investigations 2009-2025 2025-10-23 04:09:37 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law
