U.S. President Donald Trump has granted a full and unconditional pardon to former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, calling his conviction a “terrible injustice.”
President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, overturning his corruption conviction for attempting to sell former President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat.
Blagojevich, a Democrat and former contestant on Trump’s reality show, "Celebrity Apprentice", was removed from office in 2009 and sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2011. Prosecutors said he had sought personal benefits in exchange for filling Obama’s Senate seat after the 2008 presidential election.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Trump said Blagojevich had been unfairly targeted.
"He was set up by a lot of bad people, some of the same people that I had to deal with," Trump said, adding that Blagojevich’s wife had “fought like hell” for his release.
Trump previously commuted Blagojevich’s sentence in 2020, allowing him to leave prison six years early. The Supreme Court had rejected Blagojevich’s appeal in 2018, and his sentence was originally set to run until 2026.
During the signing, a reporter asked whether Trump was considering Blagojevich for an ambassadorial role in Serbia, to which Trump responded: "No, but I would say he's now cleaner than anybody in this room. He got a pardon. He's cleaner than anybody in the room."
Blagojevich has consistently denied wrongdoing, portraying himself as a victim of a politically motivated prosecution. His case echoes Trump's own criticisms of federal law enforcement, making the pardon another example of Trump’s stance against what he calls unfair prosecutions.
The move has sparked both praise and criticism, with supporters arguing Blagojevich’s sentence was excessive, while critics say his corruption charges warranted full punishment.
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