The Enforcer

Today Trump commuted the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He was convicted in June 2011 and sentenced to 14 years on corruption charges. In addition to the proposed sale of Obama’s Senate seat, Blagojevich also was convicted of trying to shake down executives from a children’s hospital and the horse-racing industry for campaign contributions in exchange for official acts in office.

Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office in 2009. He was scheduled to be released from federal prison in March 2024. Trump said Blagojevich’s daughters have only seen their father wearing prison garb in recent years, and he thought of them as he made his decision.  “They rarely get to see their father outside of an orange uniform.” He added, “That was a ridiculous sentence.”

Trump: “I'm actually, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country.”

An aside, Blagojevich used to block out the entire day on his schedule to do his hair, says a former top aide.