President Trump pardoned Rod Blagojevich, Illinois governor from 2003 to 2009, who was convicted of corruption-related crimes, including trying to sell a U.S. Senate seat vacated by former President Obama. In 2008, federal prosecutors accused Blagojevich of turning Illinois' government into a moneymaking operation for himself by trying to shake down a children's hospital and racetrack owners. When prosecutors charged Blagojevich with corruption over the Senate seat, they presented a profanity-filled telephone conversation he had that was secretly recorded by the FBI, NPR reports. "I mean, I've got this thing, and it's [expletive] golden. And I'm just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing," Blagojevich said. He argued that he simply engaged in political horse-trading, and went on a national publicity tour to proclaim his innocence.
Blagojevich was impeached and ousted as governor in January 2009 and then indicted that March. He appeared and was booted off Donald Trump's reality TV show, Celebrity Apprentice. Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 and sentenced to 14 years in prison. He served eight years, until President Trump commuted the sentence during his first term. Blagojevich called himself a freed political prisoner and said the criminal justice system was broken and unfair. President Trump granted Blagojevich a full pardon. He called Blagojevich's sentence a "terrible injustice" and said the former Illinois governor was a nice man.
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