President Trump’s decision to commute disgraced former New York congressman George Santos’ prison sentence is drawing criticism from local politicians and Santos’ former constituents.

Santos served less than three months of his seven-year sentence for wire fraud and identity theft before Mr. Trump signed a commutation Friday.

In a post on Truth Social, Mr. Trump said Santos, “by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated” in prison and ordered his release. CBS News has also learned Santos will no longer have to pay nearly $400,000 in restitution to his victims.

Santos’ attorney said his client was released from the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, late Friday night.

Local politicians, former constituents react to commutation

New York City mayoral candidates Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa weighed in on the commutation while out on the campaign trail Saturday.

“I don’t understand why we’re saving people in the political process who have stolen from the people,” Sliwa said.

“I think what we’re seeing with President Trump is the politicization of the justice system to an unparalleled level,” Cuomo said.

Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani was not on the campaign trail Saturday.

Robert Zimmerman ran against Santos for Congress in 2022, and despite a hard-fought race, he lost when the district flipped red in the midterms.

He says the message the White House is sending with this commutation is a dangerous one, specifically to the district and the victims Santos defrauded.

“If the Republicans are true to their word in standing up for law and order, standing up against crimes, are they going to stand up to Donald Trump and condemn him for the commutation of George Santos’ sentence?” Zimmerman said.

Jody Kass Finkel is the founder of the nonpartisan group Concerned Citizens of NY-03, which worked to oust Santos.

“We are horrified. We are appalled,” she said. “When Donald Trump needs to change the public narrative, I knew it was in his back pocket and he was gonna pull it out, so what is he trying to distract us from?”

Santos’ supporters praise President Trump’s decision

Santos, meanwhile, took to X on Saturday evening, where he expressed his deep gratitude to the president, acknowledging that he “made mistakes,” but is now on a path “to do good.”

“President Trump reminded me that in this country we love so much, no mistake, no hardship, and no fall from grace can take away the possibility of renewal. His faith in second chances reignited my own, and for that, I will be forever thankful,” Santos wrote.  

Santos’ attorney Joseph Murray also praised Mr. Trump in a statement, calling him “the greatest president in U.S. history.”

He thanked the Department of Justice team and several Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who he says “fought like a lion on George’s behalf.”

In a post on X, U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin wrote, “I was honored as U.S. Pardon Attorney to have played a small role in [Mr. Trump] granting [Santos] clemency. Thank you, Mr. President for making clemency great again.”

Santos said he is moving forward “with humility, with gratitude, and with peace” and wants to work on prison reform and accountability after his own experience, which he described as dehumanizing and degrading.