Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is concerned with the conditions in which federal inmates live… now that a fellow conservative that she actually knows from real life is serving a seven-year sentence.

“Nobody should be treated this way,” she posted to X in response to a post from disgraced former Rep. George Santos’ account. She then posted a letter she and Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) are sending to the federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) demanding “an investigation into the inhumane treatment of inmates at FCI Fairton,” the prison where Santos is being held.

Related

Lauren Boebert wants to change DC’s name to “District of America”

In the letter, Boebert and Burchett did not discuss the general treatment of federal inmates, but instead focused on Santos.

“Former Congressman Santos has reported that, for the past twelve days, he has been subjected to what he describes as a ‘slow-motion form of torture,'” they wrote, referring to Santos being held in solitary confinement for his safety after he received death threats.

Insights for the LGBTQ+ community

Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

While human rights advocates have argued for years that solitary confinement is, in fact, a form of torture, Santos is far from the first inmate to be held in solitary confinement in response to threats against them. LGBTQ+ people in prison are more likely to be put in solitary confinement.

Boebert and Burchett called solitary confinement “degrading and inhuman” and complained that Santos has no ability to communicate with “his loved ones.”

The letter goes on to call FCI Fairton Warden N. Kelly an “unelected official” who should not “wield such unchecked power over an individual’s life without oversight or accountability” before demanding “a transparent and expedited investigation into these allegations.”

While Boebert appears to be concerned with how people who break the law are treated now, just last year, she was offering to co-sponsor legislation to put in “gators and a moat” at the Southern Border, presumably to kill people who attempt to cross.

“Sign me up, I will co-sponsor that legislation,” she said at the time. “I’m happy to.”

This year, she cosponsored legislation to increase funding for federal detention centers like “Alligator Alcatraz” in Florida, an immigration detention center that has been the subject of numerous lawsuits over a variety of human rights abuses. The bill she cosponsored was even called the “ALCATRAZ Act,” and the press release for the bill accused the Biden administration of housing undocumented immigrants “in luxury hotels,” which the bill promised to stop.

In 2023, she supported building “mega prisons” like those in El Salvador, which are known for human rights abuses and denying inmates due process. “This is how you handle criminal gangs like MS-13,” she said at the time.

She is not the only GOP congresswoman to suddenly find that she’s concerned with prison conditions now that a Republican she knows is serving a sentence. Last month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) asked the president to pardon Santos because he is being held in solitary confinement.

Last August, Santos pleaded guilty to two felony counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. The 23 charges he initially faced included wire fraud, identity theft, money laundering, theft of public funds, and making materially false statements to both the Federal Election Commission and the U.S. House of Representatives.

Santos, who won his bid to represent New York’s 3rd congressional district as a Republican in 2022, was accused of stealing campaign donors’ identities and charging tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent purchases to their credit cards; faking a $500,000 loan to his own campaign; filing false campaign finance reports; and other offenses.

Earlier this year, the president discussed the possibility of giving Santos a pardon, stressing that “his vote was solid” when he was in Congress.

“Nobody has talked to me about it,” he said when asked if he would pardon Santos. “With him, I have the right to do it.”

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.