President Donald Trump says he is “very strongly considering” commuting the prison sentence of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.
Speaking with reporters last night aboard Air Force One, Trump says Blagojevich was “treated unbelievably unfairly.” That’s according to a transcript of the conversation provided by the White House.
Blagojevich was charged with corruption in 2008, then impeached and removed from office.
He briefly appeared on Trump’s reality show, “The Celebrity Apprentice,” before he was convicted by a jury and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Without a pardon or commutation from the president, federal prison authorities project he’ll be released in 2024.
From 2017: Our jailhouse interview with Rod Blagojevich https://t.co/xTHBgTs9pv pic.twitter.com/4zJm2MeMLh
— Chicago magazine (@ChicagoMag) December 31, 2018
Former First Lady Patti Blagojevich has been trying to appeal directly to Trump by occasionally appearing on Fox News Channel.
Trump isn’t the only politician who thinks Blagojevich got too much time. Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat, has previously said he too would support a shorter sentence.
Correction | Aug. 8, 2019: The headline and story have been corrected to reflect the fact that Trump said he is considering commuting Blagojevich’s prison sentence. An earlier version incorrectly reported he was considering a pardon.
