Politics
Associated Press
FILE - In this March 15, 2012 file photo, former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich departs his Chicago home for Littleton, Colo., to begin his 14-year prison sentence on corruption charges. Blagojevich, authored, a column appearing on the conservative website Newsmax Jan. 1, 2020, arguing that Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives would have tried to impeach former President Abraham Lincoln. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
- President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
- Blagojevich has been in federal prison for eight years after being convicted on corruption charges linked to an effort to sell off Barack Obama's vacant US senate seat.
- Trump had been publicly mulling over commuting Blagojevich's sentencing for some time, as the disgraced governor's wife made appeals to the president via Fox News.
President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has been in federal prison for eight years.
Blagojevich has been serving a 14-year sentence for corruption linked to his efforts to sell off Barack Obama's former US Senate seat, which he vacated to become president. He was seeking campaign contributions in exchange for filling Obama's vacant seat.
Trump commuted Blagojevich's sentence on Tuesday, according to The New York Times. He announced the decision early Tuesday afternoon before boarding Air Force One.
Trump in the past signaled he was considering commuting Blagojevich's sentence. The president last August said Blagojevich, a Democrat who was once fired by Trump as a contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice," had been treated "unbelievably unfairly."
Around that time, Trump also tweeted: "Rod Blagojevich, the former Governor of Illinois, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He has served 7 years. Many people have asked that I study the possibility of commuting his sentence in that it was a very severe one. White House staff is continuing the review of this matter."
In 2018, lawyers for Blagojevich officially filed paperwork asking Trump to commute his sentence. Meanwhile, Blagojevich's wife, Patti, has repeatedly appeared on Fox News and appealed to Trump over her husband's sentencing. In the process, she's criticized people who've often been the target of the president's ire, including former FBI Directors James Comey and Robert Mueller.
Comey was controversially fired by Trump he was leading the FBI's probe into Russian election interference. Subsequently, Mueller was appointed special counsel and took over the Justice Department's Russia investigation, which also looked into whether there was coordination between the Trump campaign and Moscow. The Russia probe concluded that Trump's campaign welcomed Russia's interference in the 2016 election, but did not find sufficient evidence to bring forward conspiracy charges.
Trump has offered inconsistent reasons for Comey's ouster, but in May 2018 told NBC's Lester Holt that the Russia investigation factored into the decision.
This article will continue to be updated.
Before boarding Air Force One, Trump announces he has commuted the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
- Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) February 18, 2020