Former U.S. President Donald Trump has officially pardoned Rod Blagojevich, the ex-Illinois governor who was convicted of corruption for attempting to sell Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat in 2008. The controversial pardon, signed on Monday in the Oval Office, comes five years after Trump commuted Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence during his first term in office.
Calling the conviction a “terrible injustice,” Trump accused prosecutors of unfairly targeting Blagojevich. “They just went after him. They go after a lot of people. These are bad people on the other side,” Trump told reporters. He defended the former governor, saying, “I think he’s a very fine person, and this shouldn’t have happened.”
Speculation had been swirling over whether Trump was considering Blagojevich for a diplomatic role, particularly as U.S. ambassador to Serbia. When asked about the possibility, Trump dismissed the reports but added, “No, but I would. He’s now cleaner than anybody in this room.”
Blagojevich, a Democrat, was impeached and removed from office in 2009 before being convicted on multiple corruption charges. Despite his high-profile downfall, Trump had previously expressed sympathy for him, citing their past interaction on the reality TV show “The Apprentice.”
“He seemed like a very nice person,” Trump said in 2020 while commuting Blagojevich’s sentence. However, he admitted, “I don’t know him very well.”
Blagojevich ultimately served eight years in federal prison before Trump intervened. At the time, Trump questioned the severity of the punishment, saying, “Many people disagree with the sentence.”
This latest pardon is part of Trump’s broader use of presidential clemency powers, which he has wielded aggressively since returning to the White House on January 20. On Inauguration Night, he pardoned approximately 1,500 individuals tied to the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, a move that reignited national controversy.
In addition to Blagojevich, Trump has also granted clemency to two dozen anti-abortion protesters and Ross Ulbricht, the mastermind behind the Silk Road—a dark web marketplace that facilitated millions of dollars in drug transactions.
With Trump’s unapologetic approach to presidential pardons, political analysts speculate that more high-profile clemencies could be on the horizon as he reshapes legal narratives surrounding his allies and controversial figures.
