President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to pardon ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, according to Axios.
Blagojevich, who served eight years behind bars for trying to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat after the 2008 election, originally had a 14-year sentence. But Trump commuted his sentence in 2020, setting him free early.
I’ve known Obama since 1995. We both come out of Chicago politics. I know how it works. He’s behind the campaign to dump 15 million Dem primary voters & replace Biden with his choice. Classic Chicago Democrat machine politics. Selection over election. The bosses over the people. pic.twitter.com/5ibvaX9IzP
— Rod Blagojevich (@realBlagojevich) July 21, 2024
Blagojevich was arrested by the FBI in December 2008 on federal corruption charges, including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery. He was impeached by the Illinois House of Representatives and removed from office by the Illinois Senate in January 2009.
In 2010, Blagojevich’s first trial ended in a mistrial except for one conviction of lying to the FBI. In a retrial in 2011, he was convicted on 17 additional corruption charges, including attempting to leverage his power to appoint a senator in exchange for campaign contributions, trying to shake down a children’s hospital and extorting horse racing interests. He was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.
After being impeached and booted from office, he landed on Trump’s reality show, Celebrity Apprentice.
In February 2020, Trump commuted his sentence, allowing him to walk free after serving nearly eight years.
More recently, Blagojevich has been vocal in his support of Trump, especially after Trump’s indictment in the New York hush money case. Drawing parallels to his own legal troubles, he took to social media to declare, “I love Trump more today than ever!” adding, “When you’ve lived through it yourself, you recognize when they do it to someone else.”
Now, it looks like Trump might be repaying that loyalty with a pardon.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
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