Trump to pardon former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Fox News confirms
President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, five years after commuting his 14-year sentence for political corruption charges.
Blagojevich, a former “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant, served eight years in prison on charges stemming from his effort to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat after Obama won the 2008 presidential election.
Trump commuted the sentence in 2020.
“It’s my honor to do it,” Trump said as he signed the order in the Oval Office. “I’ve watched him. He was set up by alot of bad people. Some of the same people that I had to deal with.”
“He wasn’t quite as successful, but he had somebody that saw what was going on. I didn’t know him, other than I believe he was on the Apprentice for a little while,” Trump added.
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Former Illinois governor and convicted felon Rod Blagojevich speaks to the press outside the Dirksen Federal Courthouse on Aug. 2, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
In a statement, U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., noted the speculation that Blagojevich is under consideration for an ambassadorship to Serbia under Trump.
“In a state with more than its fair share of public corruption, the Blagojevich chapter still looms as one of the worst,” he said. “America and Serbia deserve better.”
Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 and was sentenced to 14 years before Trump cut his prison term short.
He appeared on “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2010, before his first corruption trial started, drawing praise from Trump at the time when he “fired” him as a contestant.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, right, speaks, Oct. 21, 2020, during a news conference in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
Later as president, Trump drew links between investigations of his own behavior in his first term and Blagojevich’s case. Patrick Fitzgerald, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted Blagojevich, represented former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired from the agency in 2017.
Comey was working in the private sector during the Blagojevich investigation and indictment.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller, who oversaw the investigation into the Russian collusion hoax, was FBI director during the investigation into Blagojevich.
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, flanked by members of his legal team, holds a press conference on April 20, 2010, in Chicago while awaiting trial. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Blagojevich was convicted on 18 counts. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in 2015 tossed out five of the convictions, including ones in which he offered to appoint someone to a high-paying job in the Senate.
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Axios first reported the news of the expected pardon on Monday afternoon.
Fox News’ Pat Ward and the Associated Press contributed to this report. This is a developing news story. Check back for updates.
