After Rod Blagojevich — the former Illinois governor who was released from prison yesterday after his sentence on corruption charges was commuted — thanked President Trump and his family, he turned his attention to the topic of criminal justice reform.
He said that during his time in prison, he saw inmates who had been over-sentenced for their crimes.
“It is a broken criminal justice system … and it’s a racist criminal justice system,” he added.
In office, Trump has supported criminal justice reform legislation. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has also been a driving force in the administration’s criminal justice policies.
Watch:
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich wiped blood off of his chin several times during his news conference today, after explaining earlier that he cut himself shaving.
“I’m bruised, and I’m battered and bloody,” he said at the start of the news conference.
He wiped his chin mid-news conference after his wife and daughters gestured to it.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said President Trump is “tough and out spoken but also has a kind heart.”
“We want to express our most profound and everlasting gratitude to President Trump” Blagojevich said with his wife and two daughters at his side.
“He’s a problem solver” and I’m a “Trump-ocrat,” Blagojevich, who is a Democrat, said.
Blagojevich was released from prison Tuesday after serving eight years of a 14-year sentence for the pay-for-play charges.
Watch:
As Rod Blagojevich spoke, some protesters shouted at him. It’s unclear what exactly they were saying.
“Just ignore them,” his wife, Patti Blagojevich, told him. He continued speaking.
Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor who is a Democrat, said a few times that Republican President Trump “didn’t have to” commute his sentence.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich — who was released from prison yesterday after Trump commuted his sentence — thanked the President for giving him his freedom.
Speaking from Chicago, he said the commuted sentence was “an act of kindness.”
Watch:
After Trump announced he was commuting Rod Blagojevich’s prison sentence, the President mentioned he didn’t know the former Illinois governor — even though he once fired him on “Celebrity Apprentice.”
“He served eight years in jail, a long time. He seems like a very nice person, don’t know him,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews yesterday.
Blagojevich appeared on Trump’s boardroom reality show NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2010. The taping of the show came between when he was charged with and convicted of corruption.
During the show, he even professed his innocence. He was fired after leading his team to a loss during a weekly challenge.
Rod Blagojevich — pronounced Bluh-GOY-uh-vitch — had his 14-year prison sentence commuted yesterday after he served eight years.
Here’s what you need to know about the former Illinois governor and his conviction:
President Trump announced yesterday he had commuted the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat who has served eight years of a 14-year sentence for the pay-for-play charges. Trump had been weighing the move since at least since 2018.
A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed last night that Blagojevich was released from the Colorado federal prison where he was housed. Patti Blagojevich announced on her Twitter account that the family will hold a “homecoming press conference” at noon ET today.
Trump also announced pardons for former New York police commissioner Bernie Kerik, convicted of tax fraud and lying to officials; Mike Milken, an investment banker known as the “Junk Bond King” who was convicted of felony charges that included securities fraud and conspiracy; and Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers who pleaded guilty in 1998 to failing to report a felony in a bribery case.
In total, Trump granted clemency to 11 convicted criminals on Tuesday.
