Let it by no means be mentioned that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene isn’t loyal to her pals.
The Georgia Republican out right here pleading former Rep. George Santos’ case, attempting to get President Donald Trump to commute his sentence and free him from his grueling confinement, which has lasted … about 12 days. And with out naming names, she’s blissful to insinuate that far worse criminals than Santos nonetheless roam the halls of Congress.
Earlier than diving into the deserves of whether or not Trump ought to grant Santos mercy, let’s speculate about whom Greene may very well be referring to.
Happily, GovTrack, a authorities transparency group, maintains a database about legislator misconduct. Possibly Greene is referring to Rep. Andrew Ogles, the Tennessee Republican so keen to remain in Trump’s good graces that he desires to amend the Structure so Trump can serve a 3rd time period. Ogles is the topic of an ethics criticism because of a discrepancy in his monetary disclosures. Ogles additionally possesses the Santos-like penchant for inflating his resume.
Or perhaps Texas’ Troy Nehls? In 2024, the Workplace of Congressional Ethics discovered that Nehls could have made unlawful marketing campaign disbursements and seems to not have offered full monetary disclosures. Nehls nonetheless has his job, although, and little has occurred with that criticism.
And due to the GOP controlling the Home, Rep. Wesley Hunt and Rep. Ronny Jackson, each of Texas, are nonetheless hanging about regardless of the OCE figuring out that that they had violated marketing campaign finance requirements.
In keeping with Greene, Santos’ sentence is unfair as a result of a seven-year jail sentence for
“campaign-related expenses” is an excessive amount of, so she’s asking the Workplace of the Pardon Lawyer to induce Trump to commute Santos’ sentence. In fact, her characterization of Santos’ crimes is wrong. Santos deceived donors, spent marketing campaign funds on private objects, inflated the quantity of donations he acquired so he may qualify for funds and help from the nationwide GOP, did some identification fraud by charging donors’ bank cards with out their authorization, dedicated some unemployment insurance coverage fraud, and lied to the Home.
Nevertheless, Greene may be in luck: The extraordinarily morally versatile Ed Martin now runs the Workplace of the Pardon Lawyer. So she most likely has a shot at getting this request in entrance of Trump’s eyeballs on the naked minimal.
It’s considerably stunning Trump hasn’t already pardoned Santos, since Trump apparently likes to pardon individuals who have dedicated crimes that remind him of his personal crimes. He’s already granted clemency to 16 corrupt politicians, together with former New York Rep. Michael Grimm, who hid earnings and lied on his tax kinds, and Michele Fiore, a former Las Vegas metropolis council member, for her diversion of donations for a memorial to a slain police officer to her personal cosmetic surgery wants.
It isn’t like Trump is unaware of Santos’ plight, both. Final Friday, Trump talked about he had the facility to pardon Santos, musing, “He lied like hell, and I didn’t know him. … However he was 100% for Trump. I’d’ve met him. Possibly, perhaps not, however he was a congressman and his vote was strong.”
It’s the identical bizarre preemptive assertion he made about his authority to pardon convicted intercourse trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell, reminding the world that he’s completely blissful to pardon the scuzziest folks, given sufficient incentive.
And that may be Santos’ downside. He lacks the power to offer Trump with the type of incentive that woos him into pardons. Certain, Santos is infamous, however he’s not a actuality star like Todd and Julie Chrisley, who, because of Trump, are free and away from their 2022 convictions for fraud and tax evasion. And Santos didn’t donate thousands and thousands to a pro-Trump marketing campaign fund.
Ever the inveterate liar, Santos even needed to lie about this. Per Santos, his pardon was a achieved deal, however then Home Speaker Mike Johnson “blocked” it, which isn’t a factor. The presidential pardon energy is absolute, not topic to veto by the speaker of the Home. Santos is aware of this, however he probably simply can’t cease himself.
In the meantime, Greene will proceed her efforts to free her pal. Greene and Santos may very well be a dynamic duo as soon as once more, cozying up side-by-side in Congress to spin conspiracy theories collectively. Now all they want is Trump.
