Rod Blagojevich paved by President Trump – NBC Chicago

Former Illinois Government Manager Rod Blagojevich was issued a pardon by President Donald Trump on Monday, almost five years after his verdict was commuted.

Blagojevich, convicted of trying to sell the Senate seat of the then president-elected Barack Obama, had his 14-year-old prison sentence commuted by Trump in February 2020, but now the president has gone a step further and given the former governor a full pardon.

“I just want to say that I am determined what I can do as a private citizen, voluntarily my time and efforts for the best I could to fight for justice and do what I think is right,” Blagojevich said Monday night Outside of his Ravenswood Manor Home.

The news comes as Trump allegedly weighs the idea of ​​appointing Blagojevich the United States’ Ambassador in Serbia, according to several businesses, including Politico.

In the 2024 election season, Blagojevich led the efforts among Serbian Americans to help Trump get back to the White House and also participated in events around the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee to help whip support for his campaign.

Blagojevich was removed from his office as Illinois Governor in 2009, after he was indicted in connection with a scheme to sell Obama’s Senate seat. He was later convicted of making false statements in the case in August 2010 and was then convicted in a subsequent attempt at several crimes, including wire fraud and attempted extortion.

He was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison and ultimately sentenced eight years of this sentence before being committed by Trump in February 2020.

The president called the verdict “really unreasonable” and was lobbed by several people on behalf of Blagojevich, including by his wife Patti and adviser Jared Kushner.

Blagojevich also appeared as a participant in Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” while his legal case played out.

“I think about my relationship with President Trump, and that’s really – yes, he always does things for me, and he never asks me to do anything for him,” he said Monday.

The conviction had left Blagojevich unable to seek public office again, and he was also deprived of his law license when he was returned by Illinois Supreme Court by 2020.