Washington
Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for George Santos’ 7-year sentence to be commuted
It might be hard to find someone to have your back in politics if you get caught lying about your life story, become one of a handful of people ever expelled from Congress and then are thrown into federal prison.
But George Santos is no ordinary former politician.
In a letter Monday, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene formally came to the aid of the disgraced ex-congressman with a request that his seven-year prison sentence be commuted, arguing that the length of the term represented “a grave injustice.”
The plea, which was sent to a Justice Department pardon attorney, came less than two weeks after Santos began his sentence.
“While his crimes warrant punishment, many of my colleagues who I serve with have committed far worse offenses than Mr. Santos yet have faced zero criminal charges,” Greene, a Georgia Republican, wrote without elaborating. “I strongly believe in accountability for one’s actions, but I believe the sentencing of Mr. Santos is an abusive overreach by the judicial system.”
Republican President Donald Trump, in an interview with the conservative news outlet Newsmax last week, said no one has talked to him about taking action in Santos’ case, but added “that’s a long time” when told of the ex-congressman’s seven-year sentence.
Santos pleaded guilty last year to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft following a damaging indictment that alleged he stole from political donors, paid for personal expenses with campaign contributions, lied to Congress and collected unemployment benefits while working.
Santos was once heralded in the Republican Party for winning a perennially contested New York congressional seat covering parts of Queens and Long Island. However, it all began to unravel when it became clear that he fabricated much of his life story.
At one point, he falsely claimed that his mother died in the 9/11 attacks. At another, he had to clarify that he was “Jew-ish,” not Jewish, when pressed about a claim that his grandparents had fled the Holocaust.
The lies made him a political pariah before he even got to Washington. Once there, he survived two expulsion attempts before a scathing House ethics committee report in late 2023 sealed his fate. He was expelled from Congress after a vote later that same year, becoming the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be removed by colleagues.
Santos, long a Trump loyalist, has been holding out hope that his support of the Republican president could result in a reprieve from his criminal sentence.
Washington
The VA wants to end coverage of abortion for US military veterans
President Donald Trump’s administration is calling to remove abortion coverage from the list of medical benefits for veterans and their families, saying it’s not needed.
The Department of Veterans Affairs posted the proposed rule change on Monday and opened a public comment period on it that runs through Sept. 3. The department said in its proposal that it wants to ensure it “provides only needed medical services to our nation’s heroes and their families.”
The department says it would still provide abortion in life-threatening circumstances — something state laws allow, even in places where bans are in place. But critics of the change note that abortion would not be provided when pregnancies are the result of rape or incest.
Amy Friedrich-Karnik, director of federal policy at the Guttmacher Institute, said in a statement that the change would cut off millions of veterans and their families from services.
“Veterans have historically faced significant barriers to reproductive health care, and with the current patchwork of abortion bans and restrictions across the country, these barriers are even steeper today,” she said.
Veterans Affairs, which provides health coverage for veterans and their dependents, did not include abortion in its coverage until 2022. President Joe Biden’s administration added it months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and state abortion bans began kicking in.
The Biden changed allowed the VA to provide abortion even in states where it was banned. The VA says in its proposal that allowing abortion is legally questionable because Congress has not specifically allowed it. The policy change would also bring the VA’s coverage into line with other federal health care plans — including Medicaid and the TriCare coverage for active military members and their families — which exclude abortion in most cases.
The VA said in its filings that about 100 veterans and 40 dependents obtain abortions using the benefits each year — far below the projection the department made in 2022 of a total of 1,000 a year.
The conservative law firm Alliance Defending Freedom called on the VA to drop abortion coverage in a letter last month, saying the cost or providing abortion takes other health resources away from veterans.
Colorado
Funeral home owner accused of sending fake ashes pleads guilty to fraud
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado funeral home owner admitted to sending grieving families fake ashes and defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000 in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors Monday.
Carie Hallford, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. As part of the agreement, Hallford admitted to sending families dry concrete in place of ashes and stashing decomposing bodies in a room-temperature building.
U.S. District Judge Nina Wang rejected a previous agreement between Hallford and prosecutors last year. Wang will decide whether to accept the current agreement that includes dropping 14 other federal charges. Hallford’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 3 and prosecutors are asking for no more than 15 years.
In a separate case in state court, Carie and her husband, Jon Hallford, are charged with 191 counts of corpse abuse for burying the wrong body in two cases and stashing about 190 others in a room-temperature building in Penrose, Colorado, about a two-hour drive south of Denver.
Some of the bodies languished for four years, many stacked atop each other in various stages of decay.
Jon Hallford has pleaded guilty to fraud in the federal case and to the 191 counts of corpse abuse in the state case. Carie Hallford initially pleaded guilty to the corpse abuse counts in the state case but has since withdrawn her plea. Hallford’s next hearing in that case is Sept. 4.
Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for George Santos’ 7-year sentence to be commuted
It might be hard to find someone to have your back in politics if you get caught lying about your life story, become one of a handful of people ever expelled from Congress and then are thrown into federal prison.
But George Santos is no ordinary former politician.
In a letter Monday, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene formally came to the aid of the disgraced ex-congressman with a request that his seven-year prison sentence be commuted, arguing that the length of the term represented “a grave injustice.”
The plea, which was sent to a Justice Department pardon attorney, came less than two weeks after Santos began his sentence.
“While his crimes warrant punishment, many of my colleagues who I serve with have committed far worse offenses than Mr. Santos yet have faced zero criminal charges,” Greene, a Georgia Republican, wrote without elaborating. “I strongly believe in accountability for one’s actions, but I believe the sentencing of Mr. Santos is an abusive overreach by the judicial system.”
Republican President Donald Trump, in an interview with the conservative news outlet Newsmax last week, said no one has talked to him about taking action in Santos’ case, but added “that’s a long time” when told of the ex-congressman’s seven-year sentence.
Santos pleaded guilty last year to charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft following a damaging indictment that alleged he stole from political donors, paid for personal expenses with campaign contributions, lied to Congress and collected unemployment benefits while working.
Santos was once heralded in the Republican Party for winning a perennially contested New York congressional seat covering parts of Queens and Long Island. However, it all began to unravel when it became clear that he fabricated much of his life story.
At one point, he falsely claimed that his mother died in the 9/11 attacks. At another, he had to clarify that he was “Jew-ish,” not Jewish, when pressed about a claim that his grandparents had fled the Holocaust.
The lies made him a political pariah before he even got to Washington. Once there, he survived two expulsion attempts before a scathing House ethics committee report in late 2023 sealed his fate. He was expelled from Congress after a vote later that same year, becoming the sixth member in the chamber’s history to be removed by colleagues.
Santos, long a Trump loyalist, has been holding out hope that his support of the Republican president could result in a reprieve from his criminal sentence.
Washington
The VA wants to end coverage of abortion for US military veterans
President Donald Trump’s administration is calling to remove abortion coverage from the list of medical benefits for veterans and their families, saying it’s not needed.
The Department of Veterans Affairs posted the proposed rule change on Monday and opened a public comment period on it that runs through Sept. 3. The department said in its proposal that it wants to ensure it “provides only needed medical services to our nation’s heroes and their families.”
The department says it would still provide abortion in life-threatening circumstances — something state laws allow, even in places where bans are in place. But critics of the change note that abortion would not be provided when pregnancies are the result of rape or incest.
Amy Friedrich-Karnik, director of federal policy at the Guttmacher Institute, said in a statement that the change would cut off millions of veterans and their families from services.
“Veterans have historically faced significant barriers to reproductive health care, and with the current patchwork of abortion bans and restrictions across the country, these barriers are even steeper today,” she said.
Veterans Affairs, which provides health coverage for veterans and their dependents, did not include abortion in its coverage until 2022. President Joe Biden’s administration added it months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and state abortion bans began kicking in.
The Biden changed allowed the VA to provide abortion even in states where it was banned. The VA says in its proposal that allowing abortion is legally questionable because Congress has not specifically allowed it. The policy change would also bring the VA’s coverage into line with other federal health care plans — including Medicaid and the TriCare coverage for active military members and their families — which exclude abortion in most cases.
The VA said in its filings that about 100 veterans and 40 dependents obtain abortions using the benefits each year — far below the projection the department made in 2022 of a total of 1,000 a year.
The conservative law firm Alliance Defending Freedom called on the VA to drop abortion coverage in a letter last month, saying the cost or providing abortion takes other health resources away from veterans.
Colorado
Funeral home owner accused of sending fake ashes pleads guilty to fraud
DENVER (AP) — A Colorado funeral home owner admitted to sending grieving families fake ashes and defrauding the federal government out of nearly $900,000 in a plea agreement with federal prosecutors Monday.
Carie Hallford, who pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in federal court, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. As part of the agreement, Hallford admitted to sending families dry concrete in place of ashes and stashing decomposing bodies in a room-temperature building.
U.S. District Judge Nina Wang rejected a previous agreement between Hallford and prosecutors last year. Wang will decide whether to accept the current agreement that includes dropping 14 other federal charges. Hallford’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 3 and prosecutors are asking for no more than 15 years.
In a separate case in state court, Carie and her husband, Jon Hallford, are charged with 191 counts of corpse abuse for burying the wrong body in two cases and stashing about 190 others in a room-temperature building in Penrose, Colorado, about a two-hour drive south of Denver.
Some of the bodies languished for four years, many stacked atop each other in various stages of decay.
Jon Hallford has pleaded guilty to fraud in the federal case and to the 191 counts of corpse abuse in the state case. Carie Hallford initially pleaded guilty to the corpse abuse counts in the state case but has since withdrawn her plea. Hallford’s next hearing in that case is Sept. 4.
