Rod Blagojevich

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Blagojevich Receives Pardon From Trump

President commuted his corruption sentence in 2020

(Newser) - Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich received a full pardon from President Trump on Monday, five years after Trump commuted the 14-year federal sentence he was serving on corruption charges. "I've watched him. He was set up by a lot of bad people, some of the same people I...

Felon Rod Blagojevich Sues for Right to Seek Office
Convicted
Governor
Sues Illinois
Aug 3, 2021 10:25 AM CDT

Convicted Governor Sues Illinois

Rod Blagojevich wants the right to run for office again

(Newser) - This time, Rod Blagojevich is taking Illinois to court. The former governor, who served eight years in prison on corruption convictions before his sentence was commuted by former President Trump, filed a federal lawsuit Monday to regain the right to run for elective office, the Washington Post reports. That required...

Convicted Governor Disbarred
Convicted Governor Disbarred
May 18, 2020 6:26 PM CDT

Convicted Governor Disbarred

Rod Blagojevich didn't argue with the Illinois Supreme Court

(Newser) - The Illinois Supreme Court officially disbarred former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Monday, two months after a state panel recommended that the disgraced politician lose his law license. The court's decision was hardly a surprise, and Blagojevich, whose license was suspended indefinitely after his 2008 arrest, did not fight to...

Cooper, Blagojevich Faced Off Friday Night. It Wasn't Pretty

CNN anchor rips ex-Ill. governor over comparisons to Mandela, claims of 'corrupt prosecutors'

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich, whose 14-year prison sentence was cut short after eight years by President Trump this week, says he's "profoundly grateful" to Trump for doing so. One person who doesn't seem to share that sentiment: CNN's Anderson Cooper, who took the 63-year-old former Illinois governor to...

Blagojevich Has a Lot to Say About Trump

Former Illinois governor gushes about the president, calls himself a 'Trumpocrat'

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich promised he'd have more to say about the president Wednesday, and true to his word, the former Illinois Democratic governor gushed about Donald Trump after the Republican president commuted his sentence for political corruption, speaking Wednesday at a press event outside his Chicago home that sounded like...

The Public Is Behind Trump on Blagojevich
The Public Is
Behind Trump
on Blagojevich
OPINION
Feb 19, 2020 10:45 AM CST

The Public Is Behind Trump on Blagojevich

Lots of people thought 14 years was excessive, writes Natasha Korecki

(Newser) - The backlash was swift Tuesday as President Trump commuted Rod Blagojevich's 14-year prison sentence for political corruption. But Politico reporter Natasha Korecki argues the move "isn't crazy." In a Tuesday op-ed, Korecki—who wrote about Blagojevich's case for the Chicago Sun-Times and in a subsequent...

Blagojevich Returns Home a Free Man
Blagojevich Returns
Home a Free Man
Feb 19, 2020 6:54 AM CST

Blagojevich Returns Home a Free Man

He's 'profoundly grateful to President Trump'

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich walked out of prison Tuesday after President Trump cut short the 14-year prison sentence handed to the former Illinois governor for political corruption. The president said the punishment imposed on the Chicago Democrat and one-time contestant on Trump's reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice was excessive. "That...

Trump Commutes Sentence of Rod Blagojevich
Trump Frees Former
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich
the rundown
Feb 18, 2020 3:59 PM CST

Trump Frees Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich

He has been imprisoned since 2012 over corruption

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich is going home. President Trump on Tuesday commuted the sentence of the former Illinois governor, reports ABC News . Blagojevich has been imprisoned since 2012 after being convicted on corruption charges. Among other things, he famously tried to sell the vacant Senate seat of Barack Obama after Obama...

Disgraced Blagojevich Writes Impeachment Op-Ed

His criticism is seen as a message to Trump

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich has written an op-ed criticizing Democrats over the impeachment of President Trump, and the Chicago Tribune sees an unstated message. Though the essay by the imprisoned former governor never actually mentions Trump, "it’s an apparent continuation of his public campaign to win clemency from the Republican...

A Break for Rod Blagojevich Could Be Coming

President Trump says commutation is possible

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich's daughter will be especially happy to hear this: President Trump said Wednesday he is "very strongly" considering commuting the 14-year sentence for corruption currently being served by Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor. "I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly … He's been in jail...

Rod Blagojevich's Life in Prison: He Makes $8.40 a Month

Disgraced Illinois governor talks to 'Chicago Magazine' in first interview

(Newser) - The other inmates call him "Gov," of course. Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is not quite halfway through a 14-year sentence for corruption , gives his first interview to talk about life in prison to Chicago Magazine . He's doing his time at the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood...

Blagojevich's Daughter Is Really Angry Obama Didn't Pardon Dad

Amy Blagojevich pens long open letter to former POTUS

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich's oldest daughter thinks former President Obama should have used his powers to get her father released from prison, the Chicago Sun Times reports. Blagojevich's wife Patti had been posting on Facebook in the days leading up to the end of Obama's term about her hope...

Court Overturns Some Blagojevich Convictions

But it might not make much of a difference in his prison time

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich got some news today that sounds great on the surface: A judge overturned five of the more "sensational" corruption convictions against the former Illinois governor and ordered him to be resentenced, reports AP . But as the Chicago Tribune notes, it may not ultimately affect his 14-year sentence,...

Jesse Jackson Jr. to Resign

 Jesse Jackson Jr. Resigns 
UPDATED
Nov 21, 2012 2:44 PM CST

Jesse Jackson Jr. Resigns

Chicago congressman cites his health problems

(Newser) - Jesse Jackson Jr. resigned from Congress today, reports the Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune . Jackson had originally intended to hold a press conference to announce as much, but reportedly couldn't bring himself to do so thanks to his bipolar disorder. Jackson won reelection on Nov. 6, even though he didn'...

Blagojevich Scores Gig in Prison Library

It's a step up from dishwashing

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich's latest promotion isn't quite on the level of his last gig, but at least he's no longer washing dishes in his low-security prison, Politico reports. Now, instead of spending six days a week in the kitchen, he's working among the books in the prison...

Jackson Being Treated for 'Mood Disorder'

Congressman is at residential treatment facility, office says

(Newser) - Jesse Jackson Jr.'s office has denied reports that the congressman is being treated for alcoholism, saying he is "receiving intensive medical treatment at a residential treatment facility for a mood disorder." Jackson has been on medical leave since being hospitalized for exhaustion a month ago. His...

Rumors Swirling, Jesse Jackson Denies Son Tried Suicide

Democrats unsure when Jesse Jackson Jr. will return to Congress

(Newser) - It could be September by the time Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. returns to Congress, insiders tell Politico after the Illinois lawmaker was hospitalized for exhaustion . And that's "if he comes back at all," notes one Democrat. An Illinois radio station reported a rumor that the son of...

Prison-Bound Blagojevich Gets Lost, Grabs Lunch

Last meal before jail: fast food

(Newser) - As Rod Blagojevich's car headed to prison from the Denver airport yesterday, it didn't stop at the entrance of the correctional facility. Then it passed by again. Turns out the former Illinois governor and his lawyer got lost, then opted to grab Blago's last lunch before serving...

Jail-Bound Blago Says Goodbye

Ex-gov holds public farewell before starting 14-year sentence

(Newser) - Rod Blagojevich spent part of his last day as a free man saying farewell to the press and the public. The former governor of Illinois, who starts a 14-year sentence for corruption today, held a "public goodbye" outside his Chicago home. In a speech to journalists, neighbors, and well-wishers—...

Chicago the US Corruption Capital

Study shows more convictions there than any other federal jurisdiction

(Newser) - Chicago really is the cesspit of corruption you think it is, according to a new study from the University of Illinois. It found that the Windy City and its environs had had more corruption convictions than any other federal jurisdiction in the last 36 years, with 1,531. Illinois had...

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