Trump lets Blago walk
GOP congressmen ‘disappointed’ as president commutes 14-year sentence for disgraced former governor
President Trump on Tuesday commuted the remainder of the 14-year sentence for disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (One Illinois/Ted Cox)
By Ted Cox
Criticism of President Trump was immediate and unremitting after he commuted the 14-year sentence of disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday.
“Former Gov. Blagojevich betrayed the people of Illinois and engaged in a pattern of corrupt behavior for which he was held accountable and which cost him more than seven years of freedom,” said U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin in a statement. “At a time when corruption by elected officials is still in the headlines, Illinois and Washington should move quickly to establish stricter ethics requirements, including the full detailed disclosure of income, net worth, and income-tax returns by all elected officials.”
That was a pointed reference to Trump’s refusal to release his own tax returns, although there are other connections between the president and the former Illinois governor and congressman.
Blagojevich most glaringly tried to auction a U.S. Senate appointment to the seat once held by President Barack Obama in the weeks following his election in 2008. But he also held up state funding for Children’s Memorial Hospital and other businesses while awaiting hefty campaign donations in return, just as Trump held up military aid to Ukraine while waiting for that nation’s new president to sling mud at his Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden.
Blagojevich remains the only Illinois governor to be impeached and removed from office. He was released from a Colorado prison Tuesday and flew home to his family in Chicago’s Ravenswood Manor neighborhood. They immediately scheduled what they called a “homecoming news conference” for 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Trump once oversaw the already-disgraced former governor on a series of “The Celebrity Apprentice,” between his removal from office in 2009 and his conviction in 2011, and Trump had been discussing taking action to shorten Blagojevich’s prison term for over a year, egged on by periodic media appearances by Blagojevich’s wife, Patti.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker saw no reason for shortening Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence, tweeting, “Illinoisans have endured far too much corruption, and we must send a message to politicians that corrupt practices will no longer be tolerated. President Trump has abused his pardon power in inexplicable ways to reward his friends and condone corruption, and I deeply believe this pardon sends the wrong message at the wrong time. I’m committed to continuing to take clear and decisive steps this spring to prevent politicians from using their offices for personal gain, and I will continue to approach this work with that firm conviction.”
“Commuting former Gov. Blagojevich's sentence would be controversial under any president,” tweeted Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, “but President Trump embodies the worst in public leadership through his brazen disrespect for the rule of law and good governance. Given his track record, this action sends the wrong message.”
Illinois Republicans were among the most offended, in that Trump’s action cut them off at the knees in any bid to make corruption an issue in the upcoming general election in November and the referendum to endorse a constitutional amendment allowing a graduated income tax.
Even Republicans in the Illinois congressional delegation said they were “disappointed” at the decision by the president. U.S. Reps. Mike Bost, Rodney Davis, Adam Kinzinger, Darin LaHood, and John Shimkus issued a joint statement saying: “We believe he received an appropriate and fair sentence, which was (at) the low end of federal sentencing guidelines for the gravity of his public-corruption convictions. Blagojevich is the face of public corruption in Illinois, and not once has he shown any remorse for his clear and documented record of egregious crimes that undermined the trust placed in him by voters. As our state continues to grapple with political corruption, we shouldn’t let those who breached the public trust off the hook. History will not judge Rod Blagojevich well.”
And how now will it judge President Trump?