Trump pardons former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich

• President Trump pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He served eight years in prison for attempting to sell Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat. Trump commuted his sentence during his first term.
• In a statement outside his home, Blagojevich expressed gratitude toward Trump and praised his presidency.
• While signing the pardon in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump called Blagojevich a victim of injustice.

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Former Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who spent eight years in federal prison after being convicted of corruption and abuse of power in 2011, was pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Blagojevich was found guilty of attempting to sell Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat after Obama was elected president in 2008. Trump had commuted Blagojevich’s sentence during his first term in office.

Blagojevich addressed the media outside his home on Monday night, Feb. 10.

“And again, above all, one more time, let me tell you from the bottom of my heart how deep my appreciation and gratitude is for President Trump,” Blagojevich said. “I believe President Trump is well on his way to being the most consequential president in American history since Franklin Roosevelt. He’s going to change things and make things better, and among the things he’s going to change, I believe, is going to save our democracy by putting a stop to weaponized prosecution for political purposes and lawfare.”

Hours earlier, Trump commented on the pardon while signing it in the Oval Office.

“Good, it’s my honor to do it,” Trump said. “I’ve watched him; he was set up by a lot of bad people. Some of the same people that I had to deal with. He wasn’t quite as successful, but he had somebody that saw what was going on. I didn’t know him other than I believed he was on ‘The Apprentice’ for a little while. He was just a very nice person. He had a fantastic wife. She fought like hell to get him out. He was given a sentence of like 18 years, and it was sort of a terrible injustice. They were just after him. They go after a lot of people. These are bad people on the other side.”

When asked if Trump was considering Blagojevich for the role of ambassador to Serbia, Trump said, “No,” but that he would.

“He’s now cleaner than anybody in this room,” Trump said.

Blagojevich later posted a statement on his X account regarding rumors of an ambassadorship. He stated he was not eyeing any position and wanted the truth about his “corrupt” prosecution to be exposed.

Blagojevich was impeached in 2009, which included a ban from seeking elected office in Illinois. In 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court disbarred him, resulting in the loss of his law license.