WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced former Illinois governor who was sent to jail for a wide range of corruption charges just got 6 years shaved off of his 14-year prison sentence.
On Tuesday, President Trump announced he’d granted Blagojevich clemency.
The former governor had advocated for a pardon or a reduced sentence for years. So had his wife, appearing regularly on Fox News to make his case.
And in January, Blagojevich wrote an op-ed from prison where he ripped House Democrats for impeaching Trump. Trump took notice, calling his sentence ridiculous.
Speaking to the press from Joint Base Andrews, the president stated, “We have commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich. He served 8 years in jail. That’s a long time and I watched his wife on television. I don’t know him very well, I met him a couple of times he was on for a short while of the apprentice years ago, seemed like a very nice person, don’t know him. He served 8 years in jail, has a long time to go. Many people disagree with the sentence. He’s a Democrat, he’s not a Republican. It was a prosecution by the same people, Comey, Fitzpatrick, the same group. Very far from his children. They’re growing older, they’re going to high school now. They rarely get to see their father outside of an orange uniform. I saw that and I did commute his sentence.”
Blagojevich was found guilty of trying to extort a children’s hospital for campaign contributions and trying to sell former President Obama’s Senate seat after he was elected to the White House.
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