Trump announced that he commuted Santos' sentence on the night against Saturday Swedish time.
Santos was sentenced in April this year to just over seven years in prison for fraud and identity theft. He himself has admitted that he deceived donors and stole nearly a dozen personal details, including from his own family members, to finance his election campaign.
The pardon of Santos applies with immediate effect, Trump writes on his social media platform Truth Social.
The controversial Republican Santos was expelled from the US House of Representatives in December 2023 after an investigation found "overwhelming evidence" of lies and financial trickery. Among other things, he received unemployment benefits despite working, and also put campaign contributions in his own pocket.
It was the first time in 20 years, and only the sixth time in American history, that a member of the House of Representatives was thrown out of the chamber.
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