President Trump will reportedly pardon former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose sentence he commuted in 2020 before completing his first term in the White House.
The Democratic governor was sentenced to 14 years in prison for political corruption in 2011 after a jury found him guilty of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by former President Obama and extorting a children’s hospital.
Blagojevich, who appeared on Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” reality TV show in 2010, spent eight years in prison before being set free.
He was convicted on 18 counts — five of which were overturned on appeal.
During his first presidency, Trump drew comparisons to investigations into his own alleged activities to Blagojevich’s prosecution. Former special counsel Robert Mueller was FBI director when Blagojevich was charged. Mueller later conducted an in-depth investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election that made Trump the 45th president.
The disgraced former governor’s wife, Patti Blagojevich, spent nearly two years lobbying for her husband’s release on Fox News Channel before Trump commuted his sentence, according to the Chicago Tribune.
An Associated Press source said Trump planned to sign 68-year-old Chicago native’s pardon Monday.
Blagojevich thanked Trump on social media over the weekend for shortening his sentence. He also denied rumors he was “eyeing an ambassadorship” to Serbia. The ex-politician recently claimed on X that Trump has accomplished more in the first eight days of his presidency that Obama did in eight years.
Trump expressed admiration for Blagojevich when he competed on “Celebrity Apprentice” and came up short.
“I have great respect for you,” Trump said in 2010. “I have great respect for your tenacity. For the fact that you just don’t give up.”
With News Wire Services
