On his prime-time Fox News show, Sean Hannity pressed former Congressman George Santos over whether he plans to repay victims of his fraud conviction — even though his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump.
Hannity said there was “too much obfuscation” in Santos’ responses about restitution. Santos insisted he would pay “what the law requires,” but offered no clear commitment to repay in full or on his own terms.
Trump’s clemency removed Santos’ legal obligations for restitution, fines, probation, or supervised release. Santos had been sentenced in April to more than seven years in prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft in August 2024. (RELATED: Trump Commutes George Santos’ Prison Sentence)
The charges stemmed from falsified campaign finance reports, misuse of donor funds, and the theft of multiple individuals’ identities to bankroll his 2022 congressional run. He was also ordered to pay roughly $375,000 in restitution and forfeit over $200,000 in illicit gains.
As Mediaite reports:
The 37-year-old ex-lawmaker, expelled from Congress in 2023 after admitting to wire fraud and identity theft, appeared on Hannity just days after the president intervened to release him from federal custody on Friday
During the interview, Hannity pointed out that he had been a past constituent of Santos’, prompting a direct apology from the congressman to both him and the “American people.”
Santos served only three months of his 87-month sentence at FCI Fairton in New Jersey. Trump’s commutation also erased $373,750 in restitution he had been ordered to repay to donors he defrauded. After accepting the apology, Hannity turned his attention to the restitution.
“So, I have a question that no one has asked you,” the host said. “You don’t have to pay back anything. It was an amount of restitution for victims of over $373,000. There was another incident where you had repeatedly charged contributions of credit cards without people’s authorization. Two donors transferred money to a liability company. These are things that you pled guilty to.”
The cable news titan pressed on. “Here’s my question,” Hannity said. “Even though you’re not compelled with this commutation to pay it back, you think you should?”
Santos nodded thoughtfully. “You know, Sean, I’ve put a lot of thought into that and I’ve spoken to my legal team,” he said. “I think that the right thing to do is to explore a way to make it right. Part of actually squaring away with everything that has happened in my life is to start fresh, and starting fresh — if it means we find a way to do it, sure.”
He went on, clarifying the nature of the restitution. “I just want to make sure the record reflects, Sean — not obfuscating or deflecting — part of the sum would have gone to the Republican, National Republican Congressional Committee. [The] Merrick Garland administration at the DOJ determined that I was to pay back restitution to the Republican Party Congressional Committee campaign because they believed that they donated to my campaign and invested in my campaign under false pretenses even though the merits of that was to win a race, and I did. So I understand the question.” (RELATED: George Santos Deserves Prison, Not A Pardon)
Santos paused, then added, “Again, it’s been four days, and we have a lot to process. I’ll look into the best I can, best efforts. Like I said, it’s about doing what is right. It’s about moving forward. It’s about changing the ending of my life because I can’t go back and change the beginning, but President Trump gave me an opportunity to change the end. With that, I want to help troubled youth.”
Hannity appeared less than convinced. He pressed his guest once more, insisting that Santos was getting tangled in “technicalities” and that he needed to “go there” as an important first step toward setting things right.
WATCH:
Though Santos expressed remorse during sentencing, prosecutors cited his social media activity as evidence of continued defiance and lack of genuine contrition. He was expelled from the House in December 2023 after a damning Ethics Committee report concluded he “blatantly stole from his campaign” and “deceived donors” for personal benefit.
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I occasionally disagree with Trump, and this is one of those cases. Scumbag Santos did the crime, and deserves to do the time, and repay anyone he cheated, including his own party. Should have let him rot in prison. Equal Justice Under The Law.
Who cares about Santos such BS anyway vs other issues
and he appeared on guttfeld before reporting to jail???? So weird…..