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(NEW YORK) — President Donald Trump said Friday evening he has signed a commutation releasing scandal-plagued former congressman George Santos from prison “immediately.”

Santos, 37, was less than three months into serving a seven-year sentence in federal prison after being convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

The ex-lawmaker was released from prison just before 11 p.m. on Friday night and was picked up by his family, according to a statement from his lawyer, Joe Murray.

“Once they arrived, [Santos] walked right out and hopped into their car and drove home,” Murray said.

In a social media post, Trump said Santos, whom he called “somewhat of a ‘rogue,'” had the “Courage, Conviction, and Intelligence to ALWAYS VOTE REPUBLICAN!”

“George has been in solitary confinement for long stretches of time and, by all accounts, has been horribly mistreated. Therefore, I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY. Good luck George, have a great life!” Trump said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, which successfully prosecuted Santos, had no comment.

According to the clemency grant, a photo of which was posted on X by U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, Trump granted Santos an “immediate commutation of his entire sentence to time served with no further fines, restitution, probation, supervised release, or other conditions.”

An attorney for Santos told ABC News while en route to the federal prison that they expect he will be released Friday night but are waiting for official word.

The attorney said that Martin and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche were extremely helpful in getting the commutation across the finish line, and noted that several members of Congress, including Republican Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and Tim Burchett, were very aggressive in campaigning for his release.

Santos pleaded guilty to a series of fraud crimes and was sentenced in April to 87 months in prison — the maximum he faced — and two years of supervised release.

The commutation comes days after the South Shore Press published a “passionate plea” from Santos to Trump, in which he expressed his support and asked that the president “allow me the opportunity to return to my family, my friends, and my community.”

“During my short tenure in Congress, I stood firmly behind your agenda — 100% of the time,” Santos wrote in the letter, published Monday. “I championed policies that strengthened our economy, defended our borders, and restored America’s standing on the world stage. I did it proudly, Sir, because I believed — and still believe — in the mission you set out to accomplish for the American people.”

Santos said in the letter that he was being held in “complete isolation” following an alleged death threat.

“Mr. President, I have nowhere else to turn. You have always been a man of second chances, a leader who believes in redemption and renewal. I am asking you now, from the depths of my heart, to extend that same belief to me,” he wrote.

Rep. Greene, who had recently called on Trump to commute Santos’ sentence, thanked the president for doing so on Friday, saying on X that the former congressman was “unfairly treated and put in solitary confinement, which is torture!!”

Santos pleaded guilty in August 2024, in which he admitted to claiming relatives had made contributions to his campaign when, in fact, they had not. Santos conceded he was trying to meet the fundraising threshold to qualify for financial help from the National Republican Congressional Committee.

He also stipulated that he committed other fraud, including charging donor credit cards without authorization and convincing donors to give money by falsely stating the money would be used for TV ads. He also stipulated he stole public money by applying for and receiving unemployment benefits during the pandemic to which he was not entitled.

As part of his plea deal, he agreed to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution and forfeiture.

Santos was expelled from Congress in December 2023, just under a year after assuming office to represent New York’s 3rd Congressional District.

His expulsion from Congress followed accusations of ethics violations and other wrongdoing in a scathing report by the House Ethics Committee that claimed he was a fabulist and fraudster who used the prestige of political office to bilk tens of thousands of dollars out of other people.

Several New York House Republicans — who led the charge to expel George Santos from the House — criticized Trump’s commutation.

“George Santos didn’t merely lie — he stole millions, defrauded an election, and his crimes (for which he pled guilty) warrant more than a three-month sentence. He should devote the rest of his life to demonstrating remorse and making restitution to those he wronged,” New York GOP Rep. Nick LaLota, who represents a district on Long Island, said in a post on X.

New York GOP Rep. Andrew Garbarino, who is the current chair of the Homeland Security Committee and sat on the committee that investigated Santos, said in a statement that “less than three months” in prison is “not justice.”

Several House Democrats also condemned Trump’s move.

“Donald Trump has time to free serial fraudster George Santos from prison. But he can’t be bothered to address the Republican healthcare crisis crushing working class Americans. The extremists are insulting you every single day,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a post on X.

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(WASHINGTON) The Trump administration filed an emergency stay request Friday with the Supreme Court to undo a lower court order blocking the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago. 

 “This Court should stay the district court’s October 9 injunction in its entirety,” the filing, written by Solicitor General John Sauer, said.

Sauer argued the injunction “impinges on the President’s authority and needlessly endangers federal personnel and property.”

He said the Supreme Court should weigh in now “so that the National Guard may perform its protective function while any further litigation is ongoing. Given the pressing risk of violence, this Court should also grant an immediate administrative stay pending consideration of the present application.”

On Thursday, a three-judge panel on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals said the Trump administration’s decision to deploy National Guard troops was a “likely violation” of the Tenth Amendment, which reserves certain powers to the states. 

The panel, which includes a judge appointed by Trump, and presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, also found that the Trump administration was “unlikely to succeed” in proving that there is a “rebellion” against the authority of the U.S. government or that the president is unable to execute the law with regular forces. 

A temporary restraining order blocking the deployment of the Guard remains in effect through Oct. 23. U.S. District Judge April Perry has scheduled a hearing for Oct. 22 to determine whether to extend the temporary order. 

As of last week, there were about 200 federalized National Guard troops from Texas and 14 from California currently in Illinois, according to a declaration from a U.S. Army official. Another 300 Guardsmen from Illinois have been mobilized by the president over the objections of Gov. JB Pritzker.

President Donald Trump has said Guard troops are needed for crime prevention in Chicago, which he has described as a “war zone.” 

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(NEW YORK) — Pedro Hernandez, the man convicted of abducting and murdering Etan Patz, must be re-tried by June 2026 or he will be released from custody, a federal judge in New York ruled on Friday.

This is the latest twist in what Judge Colleen McMahon called “the nearly half-century long saga of the disappearance and presumptive murder” of Patz.

Six-year-old Patz went missing while walking to his school bus stop alone in SoHo in 1979. He became the first missing child whose face appeared on a milk carton and changed the way the country responds to missing children cases.

Hernandez’s first trial ended in a hung jury. In 2017, after Hernandez’s second trial, he was convicted of kidnapping and murder and sentenced to 25 years to life. Because of a lack of physical evidence, the trial hinged entirely on purported confessions from Hernandez, who has a documented history of mental illnesses and a low IQ.

A federal appeals court ruled earlier this year that Hernandez was wrongfully convicted because of an error by the state court judge who oversaw his trial. The appellate court ordered Hernandez released or retried within a “reasonable” period of time.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s office will be asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and, in the meantime, said it has not decided whether to put Hernandez on trial again. 

McMahon said it was not her job “to read the tea leaves and make predictions,” though she expressed some sympathy for the “unusual, even extraordinary, difficulties” the district attorney’s office faces. All but one member of the original trial team no longer works there and dozens of long-scattered witnesses need to be found.

McMahon gave the district attorney’s office until June 1 to retry Hernandez. “If jury selection does not commence by June 1, 2026, Hernandez must be released,” McMahon said.

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(LANGHORNE, Pa.) — A Pennsylvania high school student died from bacterial meningitis, according to the local school district.

Ryan Duffy, 18, a senior at Neshaminy High School in Langhorne, contracted Streptococcus Pneumoniae Meningitis last week and was treated in the ICU before dying Tuesday, according to a letter sent to parents by the Neshaminy School District and obtained by ABC News.

“It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death of a member of our school community, Ryan Duffy, who passed away earlier today, October 14, 2025.  Ryan’s family has given us permission to share with you that he became suddenly ill late last week and was admitted to the ICU at the hospital,” the letter read. “We hold the family in our thoughts and wish them strength in this difficult time. Ryan was diagnosed with Streptococcus Pneumoniae Meningitis.”

The Neshaminy School District is using enhanced cleaning protocols at Neshaminy High School, but the school said that Duffy’s form of meningitis is not typically contagious.

“It is important to note that this type of meningitis is not usually contagious in a school setting and does not typically spread through casual contact, such as being in the same classroom or cafeteria,” the letter continued.

According to the CDC, though this type of meningitis is spread through droplets that are released when you cough, sneeze, or talk, it is not highly contagious.

Parents in the community are mourning Duff’s death from the disease.

“These old diseases that have been around for years are still affecting people,” said Eddie Maurer, a parent from Bensalem, told ABC News affiliate ABC 6. “It just doesn’t make sense. It’s hard to believe.”

Bacterial meningitis causes inflammation of the brain’s protective lining and spinal cord and can lead to death in a few hours if not treated properly, according to the CDC.

Symptoms include severe headaches, high fevers, excessive vomiting, stiff neck and confusion, according to the CDC, and the best way to inoculate yourself against the disease is through vaccination.

“Most people recover from bacterial meningitis if managed properly,” the CDC page on the infection says, but “those who recover can have permanent disabilities.”

It is not yet known how Duffy contracted the infection.

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(NEW YORK) — The Department of Justice brought charges Thursday against the voting machine company Smartmatic, accusing it of allegedly bribing an official in the Philippines to win contracts, according to court papers filed in the Southern District of Florida.

The indictment accuses Smartmatic and a number of employees of bribing a Philippine official in order to retain business, specifically in relation to the purchase of voting machines in the 2016 Philippines election.

The charges come as Smartmatic is involved in a multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit against Fox News, having accused the channel of “knowingly and intentionally” spreading false claims of voting machine fraud in the wake of the 2020 election, causing Smartmatic to lose business.

Fox has said they were covering newsworthy allegations made by President Donald Trump and others, and has accused Smartmatic of looking to profit off a lawsuit.

Thursday’s indictment alleges that the Philippine bribes exceeded $1 million.

“To finance the bribes, the co-conspirators allegedly created a slush fund by over-invoicing the cost per voting machine supplied for the 2016 Philippine elections,” a DOJ press release on the charges stated. “To conceal the corrupt payments, they used coded language, created fraudulent contracts and sham loan agreements, and routed transactions through bank accounts in Asia, Europe, and the U.S., including within the Southern District of Florida.”

The superseding indictment comes after the Department of Justice previously indicted a number of Smartmatic officials, but not the company itself.

The charges filed Thursday against Smartmatic include conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and conspiracy to commit money laundering, among others.

Smartmatic in a statement said they “categorically deny those allegations” and called the indictment “wrong on the facts and wrong on the law,” adding that they believe the move was “targeted, political, and unjust.”

“We will contest the claims, and we are confident we will prevail in court,” the statement said.

Smartmatic also said the indictment was “more of the same” from the previous indictment last year, which they called “spurious.” The statement also claimed that the U.S. attorney in the case had been “misled and politically influenced by powerful interests, despite our extensive cooperation with the government.”

“Smartmatic will continue to stand by its people and principles,” the statement said. “We will not be intimidated by those pulling the strings of power.”

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(NEW YORK) — A measles outbreak in South Carolina has grown to 15 cases, state health officials said on Friday.

The newly identified cases were close contacts of people who were quarantining at home and were not in any school settings when contagious, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health (SCDPH).

“Because they were quarantining before they became infectious, no additional exposures have occurred with these new cases,” the department said.

The outbreak was first identified in the South Carolina upstate region in early October, according to the SCDPH. Several of the cases have been confirmed in Spartanburg County, which sits on the border with North Carolina.

Last week, at least two elementary schools in Spartanburg County sent more than 150 unvaccinated students home to quarantine for 21 days after being exposed to measles. Since then, at least five of the 150 children have contracted the disease, officials said.  

In a press conference earlier this week, South Carolina health officials said more than 100 students from Global Academy of South Carolina and Fairforest Elementary are continuing to quarantine at home.

Of the more than 600 students at Global Academy, a K-5 charter school, just 17% have their required immunizations, state health department data shows.

Meanwhile, Fairforest has a vaccination rate of 85%, according to the data. A vaccination rate of 95% is typically considered to be when a location or an area has herd immunity to help prevent outbreaks in communities.

Health officials announced earlier this week that they are deploying a mobile vaccination unit in the county over the next two weeks to provide measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shots for free.

It comes as the U.S. is seeing the highest number of measles cases in more than 30 years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As of Wednesday, 1,596 cases have been confirmed in 41 states, with more than 90% of cases among those who are unvaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown.

CDC data shows 44 measles outbreaks have been reported across the U.S. so far this year, compared to 16 outbreaks reported all of last year.

The CDC currently recommends that people receive two MMR vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective and two doses are 97% effective against measles, the CDC said.

Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 due to the highly effective vaccination program, according to the CDC. However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years.

During the 2024-2025 school year, 92.5% of kindergartners received the MMR vaccine, according to data. This is lower than the 92.7% seen the previous school year and the 95.2% seen in the 2019-2020 school year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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