• Navy veteran Richard Osthoff, whose GoFundMe for his dying service dog was allegedly stolen by George Santos, called Trump’s commutation “a punch in the gut.”
• Santos was sentenced to 87 months for wire fraud and identity theft but only served a few months.
• Trump defended the commutation, comparing Santos’s crimes to Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s misleading statements about his military service.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (TDR) — A disabled Navy veteran whose dying service dog was allegedly defrauded by George Santos blasted President Donald Trump Friday for commuting the disgraced former congressman’s prison sentence, comparing the move to being punched in the gut. Richard Osthoff said Trump “essentially spit on a veteran yet again” by releasing Santos immediately from federal prison where he had served only months of a seven-year sentence.

‘My gut dropped’

“I feel the president just punched me in the gut. He essentially spit on a veteran yet again,” Osthoff told Daily Mail. “Santos should never have been considered for this.”

The New Jersey veteran told NBC News he was “a little pissed off” and felt nauseated upon hearing the news. “My gut dropped; I felt like I was going to throw up,” Osthoff said. “He didn’t serve a drop in the bucket of his sentence, and now he will run around all over the place with a bigger ego and think he can get away with anything.”

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Osthoff believes Trump shows “disdain for veterans and for military members” and is “abusing his powers” by granting the commutation.

The dying dog GoFundMe scheme

In 2016, Santos, using the alias Anthony Devolder, allegedly raised $3,000 through GoFundMe for Osthoff’s 10-year-old pit bull Sapphire, who needed surgery to remove a tumor. Santos operated under the guise of a charity called Friends of Pets United, though IRS records showed no registered charity under that name.

After the fundraiser reached its goal, Santos became uncooperative when Osthoff tried to access the money, according to text messages provided to CNN. Santos initially insisted Osthoff take the dog to a vet clinic of Santos’s choosing, then claimed the clinic wouldn’t accept his form of payment.

“I had to jump through hoops and do everything his way,” Osthoff told CNN in 2023. “He was just totally, totally difficult. One obstacle after another.”

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In their final text exchange from 2016, Santos told Osthoff that because his dog wasn’t a candidate for surgery, “the funds are moved to the next animal in need.” Sapphire died in 2017 without receiving treatment. Osthoff said he couldn’t afford euthanasia and cremation, describing having to panhandle as “one of the most degrading things I ever had to do.”

FBI investigated the case

The FBI contacted Osthoff in February 2023 as part of an investigation into Santos and the GoFundMe campaign. “I was worried that what happened to me was too long ago to be prosecuted,” Osthoff told ABC News at the time. When confronted about the allegations, Santos told reporters, “I have no recollection of ever meeting him.”

The dog’s death contributed to Osthoff’s PTSD and worsened his mental health. “Little girl never left my side in 10 years. I went through two bouts of seriously considering suicide, but thinking about leaving her without me saved my life,” he told reporters in 2023.

Santos’s fraud conviction and sentence

Santos pleaded guilty in October 2024 to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, admitting he deceived donors and stole the identities of 11 people as part of a yearslong scheme that preyed upon the campaign finance system, his political party, donors and family members. He was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison in April 2025 and began serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, in late July.

The New York Republican served in the House for less than one year before being expelled from Congress in December 2023 under a cloud of scandal involving fabricated resume claims, including lies about his education, work history and family background.

Trump’s controversial justification

In his Truth Social post Friday evening, Trump downplayed Santos’s crimes while attacking Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “George Santos was somewhat of a ‘rogue,’ but there are many rogues throughout our Country that aren’t forced to serve seven years in prison,” Trump wrote.

Trump claimed Blumenthal’s misleading statements about his military service were worse than Santos’s crimes. In 2010, Blumenthal apologized for having “misspoken” on multiple occasions when he said he had served “in Vietnam” instead of “during Vietnam.” Blumenthal served in the Marine Reserve during the war but was not deployed there.

“This is far worse than what George Santos did, and at least Santos had the Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN,” Trump wrote. Blumenthal responded Friday night, calling Trump’s post “fabricated nonsense” and saying “there’s no excuse for commuting George Santos’ sentence.”

Republican backlash

At least two Republican congressmen who voted to expel Santos from the House criticized Trump’s decision. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., who sits on the House Ethics Committee, said Santos serving only a few months of his seven-year sentence is “not justice.”

Santos was released from prison around 11 p.m. Friday and greeted outside the facility by his family, according to his attorney Joe Murray.

The commutation marks another controversial clemency decision by Trump, who has issued a blanket pardon of more than 1,500 people charged with acts related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich after corruption convictions.

Should presidents have unlimited power to commute sentences of political allies who defrauded vulnerable veterans and their dying service animals?

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