{"id":9633,"date":"2025-02-11T17:14:56","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T09:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=9633"},"modified":"2025-02-14T09:48:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T01:48:02","slug":"who-is-rod-blagojevich-who-was-just-pardoned-by-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=9633","title":{"rendered":"Who is Rod Blagojevich, who was just pardoned by Trump?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

President Trump on Monday signed a full and unconditional pardon for Rod Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, who served eight years in prison on corruption charges until Trump commuted his sentence in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my honor to do it. I\u2019ve watched him. He was set up by a lot of bad people,\u201d Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Monday, shortly after he signed the pardon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The moment came nearly five years after the president, in his first term, commuted Blagojevich\u2019s 14-year sentence, calling it a \u201ctremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence\u201d at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blagojevich was arrested by federal authorities in 2008 in an expansive corruption case that ultimately led to his impeachment in the state House and his removal from office in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was later convicted on corruption charges, including attempted extortion of a children\u2019s hospital for campaign contributions and trying to sell former President Obama\u2019s Senate seat after he was elected to the White House in 2008. The former governor began serving a 14-year prison sentence in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was infamously caught on tape speaking about the pay-for-play scheme involving Obama\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump: Palestinians wouldn’t have right to return to developed Gaza<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got this thing, and it\u2019s f\u2014\u2013g golden. I\u2019m just not giving it up for f\u2014\u2013g nothing,\u201d Blagojevich said in a recorded phone call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Trump and Blagojevich have crossed paths before. The two men knew each other when the former governor appeared as a contestant on \u201cCelebrity Apprentice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2020, upon his release from prison, Blagojevich told reporters that he had \u201cprofound and everlasting gratitude\u201d for Trump, who\u2019s \u201cgot obviously a big fan in me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd if you\u2019re asking me what my party affiliation is, I\u2019m a Trump-ocrat,\u201d he added at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, Blagojevich said he was suing the state of Illinois in an attempt to run for office again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politico recently reported Blagojevich is being considered to serve as Trump\u2019s ambassador to Serbia. In a recent statement, Blagojevich denied seeking the ambassadorship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not asking President Trump for anything. I\u2019m profoundly grateful to him for commuting my 14-year prison sentence and giving my daughter\u2019s their father back,\u201d Blagojevich posted on X. \u201cWhat I am seeking is justice and for the truth of the corrupt prosecution against me to be exposed. If we are going to save our democracy, lawfare and the weaponization of prosecutors for political purposes must end and those who engage in it must be brought to account.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Trump on Monday signed a full and unconditional pardon for Rod Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, who served eight years in prison on corruption charges until Trump commuted his sentence in 2020. \u201cIt\u2019s my honor to do it. I\u2019ve watched him. He was set up by a lot of bad people,\u201d Trump […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9634,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3096,1724,1912],"class_list":["post-9633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-blagojevich","tag-trump","tag-was"],"yoast_head":"\nWho is Rod Blagojevich, who was just pardoned by Trump? - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=9633\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who is Rod Blagojevich, who was just pardoned by Trump? - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"President Trump on Monday signed a full and unconditional pardon for Rod Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois, who served eight years in prison on corruption charges until Trump commuted his sentence in 2020. \u201cIt\u2019s my honor to do it. 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