NY Criminal Defense Attorney David Schwartz ⁨‪@NewsmaxTV‬ Talking About @George Santos Pardon.

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Former New York Republican Congressman
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George Santos is out of prison. This
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after President Trump commuted his
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sentence on Friday. Santos had been
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serving a 7-year sentence for wire fraud
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and aggravated identity theft. In a
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lengthy truth social post, President
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Trump writing this, "George Santos was
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somewhat of a rogue, but there are many
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rogues throughout our country that
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aren't forced to serve seven years in
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prison. I started to think about George
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when the subject of Democrat Senator
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Richard Dunning Dick Blumenthal came up
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again. As everyone remembers, Dunning
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stated for almost 20 years that he was a
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proud Vietnam veteran, having endured
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the worst of the war, watching the
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wounded and dead as he raced up the
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hills and down the valleys. blood
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streaming from his face. He was a great
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hero and he would leak to any and all
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who would listen. And then it happened.
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He was a complete and total fraud. He
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never went to Vietnam. He never saw
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Vietnam. He never experienced the
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battles there or elsewhere. Yeah. The
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post goes on to say this. His war hero
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status and even minimal service in our
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military was totally and completely made
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up. This is far worse than what George
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Santos did. and at Lee Santos had the
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courage, conviction, and intelligence to
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always vote Republican. George has been
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in solitary confinement for long
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stretches of time and by all accounts
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has been horribly mistreated. Therefore,
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I just signed a commutation releasing
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George Santos from prison immediately.
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Good luck, George. Have a great life.
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With that, we'll bring in Randy Zelen
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and David Schwarz, both criminal defense
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attorneys. Thank you, gentlemen, for for
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being on. We do appreciate that. Um, and
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David, if I'd like to start with you if
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I can. Obviously, the president has the
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powers to pardon or uh commute
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sentences. He decided to do so moving
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forward uh with former congressman uh
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George Santos. Santos, overall thoughts
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on that and maybe the president's
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explanation of why he did it. Uh your
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thoughts on that?
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I wasn't in love with the explanation,
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but certainly under the constitution,
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article 2, section two gives the
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president a a wide a wide spectrum to to
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pardon or to uh give a reprieve to
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whoever he wants. And that's the way the
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criminal justice system is set up. It's
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set up brilliantly. Hamilton spoke about
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it that in in the criminal justice
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system, we have excessive sentences. In
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the criminal justice system, we have
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unfair verdicts and that is the ultimate
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check and balance over the criminal
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justice system. I would like to see it
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used even never heard of get a fair
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shake in the system.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked
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about it over the weekend. Here's how he
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explained uh why George Santos was let
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out. Watch.
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10 former Republican members of Congress
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who the president has either pardoned or
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issued clemency for. 10.
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Okay. You want to talk about what Joe B
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Joe uh Biden did with that power. He
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pardoned his own family. The only thing
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he signed, by the way, with his own pen.
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Everything else is autopinn. But
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categories of hardened criminals that
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they just released from prison. At least
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President Trump is fully transparent.
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Randy, what do you think of that
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rebuttal?
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I it it it's legitimate. Uh, I think
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David's point is well taken. Uh, I would
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leave the partisan politics out of it if
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I were the president and I would simply
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focus in on two critical things that the
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criminal justice system and federal
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sentencing looks to avoid. One, we want
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to avoid unwanted sentencing
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disparities. And for George Santos to
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get seven years while Shawn Combmes got
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a little more than four years, I would
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say that that is an unwanted sentencing
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disparity. We also look for a sentence
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that is sufficient
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but not greater than seven years for a
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nonviolent white collar more or less
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firsttime offender. That's kind of an
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excessive sentence. So I think President
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Trump got it right by saying seven years
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that's a bit much. Just let this guy go
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home.
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Yeah. And he focused too on how he was
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treated in prison. According to the
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president, he was in solitary
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confinement. Uh Mr. Santos appeared on
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CNN State of the Union following his
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release. He spoke about how he found out
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about the commutation in that moment.
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Here's that.
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I had no expectations. I wasn't even
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aware until I learned it off of the
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Chiron of mainstream media inside of the
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prison myself. Uh I was I had just been
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released from uh segregated isolation
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after 41 days for absolute no valid
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reason.
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So that is wild. I mean, just imagining
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you're in his position and seeing your
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name flash on the screen, learning that
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your sentence has been commuted, that
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must have been the moment. Santos now
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going on to say that he's done with
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politics for now. Instead, he's uh
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focusing on making prisons more humane.
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Um, and that's David, that's interesting
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in itself because he has a firsthand
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look at how you're treated within the
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prison walls, within confinement, and
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he's got a new what appears to be lease
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on life.
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Sure. Hopefully, he adds something to
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society. And that moment, it is an
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incredible moment. And I I had the
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fortune of having a client that received
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a presidential pardon. And it's just an
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incredible moment uh to think that
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you're going to be serving this long
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jail sentence and your your sentence is
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commuted. And keep in mind this is just
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a commutation. It's not a complete
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pardon. So he still has a criminal
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conviction. It's just that the sentence
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was commuted.
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Yeah. Um, Santos also speaking about
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whether or not he received special
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treatment because of his voting record.
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Here's what he had to say about that.
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You know what? Um, I say this and and I
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hate that we have to go down this road.
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And then there's a lot of people who
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were upset with President Biden who
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pardoned his entire family before he
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left office in an unprecedented move. So
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I pardon me if I'm I'm I'm not paying
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too much attention to the curl clutching
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of the outrage of my of my critics and
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of the people predominantly on the left
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who are going to go out there and try to
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make a big deal out of something like
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this.
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So uh kind of to Speaker Johnson's
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point, Randy, as we hear there, right?
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Um you know, President Trump obviously
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has the ability to do so. Uh it is
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interesting that of course, you know,
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George Santos did vote down the line
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with Republicans, but he was a
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Republican congressman. He was, you
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know, in theory representing voters in
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his district who wanted him to serve.
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Your thoughts?
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Right. Right. Right place at the right
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time. And and again, if we're going to
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be transparent, if it were your son, if
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it were your husband, if it were your
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brother, uh you sure as hell would want
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him to be able to take advantage of
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every opportunity to be able to get that
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commutation or that pardon. So, it's
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simply a matter of what side of the
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aisle you're on. If you're in the right
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place, then you're happy with it. And if
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you're not one of the lucky ones, then
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you're unhappy with it. But that should
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not be the litmus test.
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Yeah. But interesting point Santos
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brought up about the preemptive pardon
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signed by President Biden uh in his
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final hours in office. Randy Zelen
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joining us. David Schwarz, thank you
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both. Appreciate it. Thank you.