President Trump commutes former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s prison sentence
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was released from a federal prison in Colorado Tuesday, just hours after President Donald Trump announced he had commuted the Illinois Democrat’s 14-year sentence for political corruption.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement early Tuesday evening that Blagojevich “is no longer in the custody” of the agency and had been released from the Englewood Federal Correctional Institution .
“Yes, we commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich,” Trump said on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews earlier in the day. “He served eight years in jail – a long time. He seems like a very nice person, don’t know him.”
“I did commute his sentence. So he’ll be able to go home to his family,” Trump continued, characterizing Blagojevich’s sentence as “a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence, in my opinion. And the opinion of many others.”
While Trump said he didn’t know Blagojevich, the two did become acquainted when the former governor competed on Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice in 2010 while awaiting trial. Trump has mentioned the possibility of freeing him on several occasions.
With the commutation, Trump only reduced Blagojevich’s sentence. He did not pardon the him, so his conviction still stands.
The president also granted pardons to seven people including Edward DeBartolo, Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers convicted of gambling fraud, and Michael Milken, the junk bond financier convicted for breaking securities laws. Trump commuted sentences for three individuals in addition to Blagojevich.
The former governor was convicted in 2010 for attempting to gain personally from his power to appoint a U.S. Senate replacement for Barack Obama. Blagojevich was caught on a FBI wiretap saying “I’ve got this thing, and it’s (expletive) golden. I’m just not giving it up for (expletive) nothing.”
Blagojevich also tried to shake down a children’s hospital executive for a campaign donation in exchange for state funding.
In 2008, just weeks after Blagojevich was arrested and released on bond, he appointed Roland Burris, a Democrat from Centralia, to Obama’s seat. Despite the controversy and amid calls for Blagojevich to resign, Burris accepted the appointment and served from January 2009 to November 2010. Former U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk, R-Champaign, succeeded Burris in a special election and served until U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat, assumed office in 2017.
Before Blagojevich was convicted, he was impeached and thrown out of office in January 2009 by the Illinois General Assembly.
Republican members of Illinois’ congressional delegation, including U.S. Reps. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, and John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, have all implored the president in recent months not to commute Blagojevich’s sentence.
In a joint statement, Bost, Davis, Shimkus and Adam Kinzinger, R-Kankakee, expressed their disappointment.
“We believe he received an appropriate and fair sentence, which was the low-end of the federal sentencing guidelines for the gravity of his public corruption convictions,” the lawmakers said. “Blagojevich is the face of public corruption in Illinois, and not once has he shown any remorse for his clear and documented record of egregious crimes that undermined the trust placed in him by voters. As our state continues to grapple with political corruption, we shouldn’t let those who breached the public trust off the hook. History will not judge Rod Blagojevich well.”
U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said Blagojevich served his time for a “pattern of corrupt behavior.” Durbin previously supported shortening Blagojevich’s sentence and the White House listed him as a proponent of commutation in a statement to the press.
“Former Governor Blagojevich betrayed the people of Illinois and engaged in a pattern of corrupt behavior for which he was held accountable and which cost him more than seven years of freedom,” Durbin said in his statement. “At a time when corruption by elected officials is still in the headlines, Illinois and Washington should move quickly to establish stricter ethics requirements, including the full detailed disclosure of income, net worth, and income tax returns by all elected officials.”
Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker has also said he believed Blagojevich should stay in prison. Pritzker was recorded on FBI wiretaps speaking about possible appointments to office. Snippets of the recordings were leaked during the 2018 gubernatorial campaign.
In a statement released after the commutation, Pritzker said the president’s decision condones corruption.
“Illinoisans have endured far too much corruption, and we must send a message to politicians that corrupt practices will no longer be tolerated,” Pritzker said. “President Trump has abused his pardon power in inexplicable ways to reward his friends and condone corruption, and I deeply believe this pardon sends the wrong message at the wrong time. I’m committed to continuing to take clear and decisive steps this spring to prevent politicians from using their offices for personal gain, and I will continue to approach this work with that firm conviction.”
State Sen. Paul Schimpf, R-Waterloo, said he disagrees with Trump’s decision.
“I am not aware of any expression of remorse or guilt by inmate Blagojevich,” Schimpf wrote in a prepared statement. “Further, in light of the current ethics crisis in Illinois government involving multiple arrests and ongoing federal investigations, I believe this commutation sends the wrong message to current and potential bad actors.”
This story has been updated.
This story was originally published February 18, 2020 at 1:45 PM.
