WASHINGTON — Disgraced former Rep. George Santos is ready to report back to jail on Friday, starting a greater than seven-year sentence after pleading responsible to a laundry listing of federal expenses that included wire fraud, identification theft and cash laundering.
The flamboyant New York Republican, who stormed onto the nationwide stage when he unexpectedly gained a congressional seat in 2022 and was expelled by his colleagues the very subsequent yr, didn’t go quietly this week. He appeared on an hour-long podcast, engaged along with his followers on X Areas and posted a collection of farewell tweets on X. He additionally continued to publish movies for supporters on the Cameo platform by way of Friday morning, charging a minimal of $300 per video, in line with the positioning.
“Nicely, darlings …The curtain falls, the highlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed. From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable information what a journey it’s been! Was it messy? At all times. Glamorous? Sometimes. Sincere? I attempted… most days,” Santos wrote on X.
“I could also be leaving the stage (for now), however belief me legends by no means actually exit,” he continued.
In his hour-and-a-half Areas stay broadcast, Santos, a Donald Trump ally in Congress, stated he’s been requested by many individuals whether or not he’ll get a presidential pardon or commutation that might lower quick his 87-month sentence.
“The reply to that’s, I don’t know. You’re asking the fallacious individual,” he stated on Thursday. “The one individual that may reply that query is, you already know, whoever the president of the USA is — on this case, President Donald Trump.”
The White Home has not commented on the matter.
Santos’ political profession was one of many shortest and most tumultuous in current reminiscence. Even earlier than he was sworn into workplace, the New York Occasions and different retailers revealed that he had fabricated elements of his resume, and the private narrative that he shared with donors and voters on the marketing campaign path started to crumble.
The Home Ethics Committee issued a scathing investigative report about Santos, discovering he’d doubtless dedicated a number of federal crimes, and the Justice Division indicted him on 23 counts, together with embezzling contributions from supporters, illegally acquiring unemployment advantages and mendacity on Home monetary disclosures.
Within the 2022 midterm elections, Santos had been one among 4 Republicans who had flipped Democratic-held seats in New York. However after the indictment and Ethics report, it was those self same New York GOP colleagues who led the cost to oust him from Congress.
On Dec. 1, 2023, the Home voted 311-114 to expel Santos, making him simply the sixth individual in U.S. historical past to be expelled from the Home of Representatives.
After his responsible plea, Santos was sentenced to 87 months behind bars this previous April and ordered to pay nearly $374,000 in restitution and over $200,000 in forfeiture.
Throughout his appearances this week, Santos repeatedly expressed regret for his lies and actions, whilst he tried to settle political scores with those that ousted him from Congress.
“I believe we will all attest that I’ve made a string of s— decisions in my life, and for that, I am sorry to these I’ve disillusioned, to these I’ve let down, to people who I’ve precipitated irreparable harm. I am sorry. I imply it. I am not— I am not placating. This is not for present,” Santos stated on Areas.
“It is simply, life sucks typically and life-ing is tough,” he stated.
