
Former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) committed to repaying his fraud victims on Wednesday, days after President Trump commuted his sentence and the former lawmaker walked free from prison.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “Cuomo,” the New York Republican said his legal team is “looking into” ways to pay restitution, even though his clemency order frees him of any obligation to do so.
“Morally, it’s the correct thing to do. My legal team is working to find out avenues. You can’t just nilly willy start, go up to people and say, ‘Oh, here’s a check,’” Santos said in the interview, when asked whether he thinks he should be working to pay people back. “There needs to be an official mechanism and an avenue to do so.”
“And when the time is right, and I have the financial means, I am going to do it, I’ve already committed that I will do it,” the former lawmaker told host Chris Cuomo.
Santos added later: “I will be looking into it. My attorneys are already, you know, brainstorming. They’re working on ways that we can do it legally, and we will be doing it.”
The New York Republican said he thinks it’s the right thing to do to and will announce publicly when he has paid people back.
“Look, I don’t have to, but I want to, because it’s the only way that I can resolve my quarrels of the past and to right the wrongs of my past, and then move forward,” Santos said Wednesday.
“And I will make very clear the day that I accomplish that, I will announce it so people can know it was done. So, it’s not a matter of dodging it. I don’t have to but I want to, because I want to do what is morally correct,” he added. “And 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 was released from prison Friday after Trump announced that he signed a sentence commutation, who reported to prison three months ago to begin his 87-month sentence. The move came after pleas from the embattled former lawmaker for clemency.
The clemency order, which was made public on Monday, made clear that Santos not only would walk free from prison, but would be free of his obligation to pay the $370,000 in restitution that the court ordered.
In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Santos said he did not yet know whether he would still have to pay restitution, since the clemency order had not yet been made public, but that he would only pay back the money if the law required it.
“This is about a fine, and this is about paying money back,” host Dana Bash said in the interview. “And whether you describe them as victims or just donors to the [National Republican Congressional Committee] what the court said is that they should get their money back. Will you work to try to do that?”
Santos responded, “Well, look, I can do my best to do whatever the law requires of me, so, I don’t know what that is.”
“I’ve been out of prison for two days. I agreed to come here to speak with you candidly and openly and not to obfuscate,” he said.
Santos was originally sentenced to a seven-year prison term after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He was expelled from Congress in 2023 after reports revealed he fabricated much of his resume and lied on campaign finance reports.