Ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is speaking to reporters Wednesday afternoon after his release late Tuesday from a prison in Colorado upon President Trump’s commutation of his sentence. Blagojevich served eight years of a 14-year sentence on corruption charges and had been incarcerated since 2012.
He was convicted on 18 corruption counts, including one related to an attempt to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat after Mr. Obama was elected president in 2008. Some of the charges were subsequently thrown out on appeal.
How to watch Rod Blagojevich’s news conference
- What: Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich holds a news conference
- Date: Wednesday, February 19, 2020
- Time: 12 p.m. ET
- Location: Outside his home in Chicago, Illinois
- Online stream: Live on CBSN – in the player above and on your mobile or streaming device
The president said Tuesday that Blagojevich “served eight years in jail, a long time,” and called his sentence “a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence, in my opinion.” Blagojevich, a Democrat, said he has “everlasting gratitude” for the president. The ex-governor was once a contestant on “Celebrity Apprentice,” but was fired in the fourth episode of the season.
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He was released from FCI Englewood prison in Colorado late Tuesday, hours after Mr. Trump announced the commutation. Blagojevich maintains that he never committed any crimes and that he was “persecuted and railroaded.”
