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Rod Blagojevich

February 15, 2024

"Blagojevich" redirects here. For other people named Blagojevich, see Blagojević.

Rod Blagojevich (/bləˈɡɔɪ.əvɪtʃ/ blə-GOY-ə-vitch; born December 10, 1956), often referred to by his nickname "Blago",[2][3] is an American politician, political commentator, and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. He was impeached, removed from office, convicted, and incarcerated for eight years on federal charges of public corruption. A member of the Democratic Party, Blagojevich previously worked in both the state and federal legislatures. He served as an Illinois state representative from 1993 to 1997, and the U.S. representative from Illinois's 5th district from 1997 to 2003.

Rod Blagojevich
Blagojevich c. 2007
40th Governor of Illinois
In office
January 13, 2003 – January 29, 2009
LieutenantPat Quinn
Preceded byGeorge Ryan
Succeeded byPat Quinn
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 5th district
In office
January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003
Preceded byMichael Flanagan
Succeeded byRahm Emanuel
Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
from the 33rd district
In office
January 6, 1993 – January 3, 1997
Preceded byMyron Kulas
Succeeded byJohn Fritchey
Personal details
Born (1956-12-10) December 10, 1956 (age 67)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpousePatricia Mell
Children2
Education
Signature
Criminal information
Criminal status
Conviction(s)
Criminal penaltyServed nearly 8 years of a 14 year sentence; commuted

Born and raised in Chicago, Blagojevich graduated from Northwestern University in 1979 and the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983. After graduating, he became a criminal prosecutor at the Cook County State's Attorney Office during the late 1980s. Turning to elective politics, he represented the 33rd state house district in the Illinois House of Representatives where he supported mostly law and order policies. Forgoing a third two-year term in the state legislature, he represented Illinois's 5th congressional district for six years, winning re-election twice. He was elected Illinois governor in 2002, the first Democrat to win the office since 1972. There was increased public education funding, infrastructure development, and criminal justice reforms during his first term.

A 2006 re-election and his second term led to the passage of a variety of healthcare, gun control, and anti-discrimination bills. Starting in December 2008, a federal investigation and trial found Blagojevich guilty of public corruption after he attempted to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama upon his election to the presidency. Blagojevich was impeached, convicted, and removed from office in 2009 by the Illinois General Assembly. He was also subsequently barred by the Illinois Senate from holding public office within the state ever again. For his role in the corruption scandal, Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. After an appeal for his release, U.S. President Donald Trump formally commuted his sentence in 2020, after Blagojevich had been imprisoned for nearly eight years.[4][5] From May 2020 to September 2021, Blagojevich hosted a politics-themed radio program called The Lightning Rod on WLS-AM.

Early life edit

Rod Blagojevich[6][7] was born in Chicago, Illinois, the second of two sons[8] of Serb immigrants from FPR Yugoslavia. His father, Rade B. Blagojevich, was an immigrant steel plant laborer from a village near Kragujevac, PR Serbia.[9] His mother, Mila, was a Herzegovinian Serb whose family was originally from Gacko, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina.[10] His parents moved to Chicago in 1947. Blagojevich's older brother Rob[11] worked as a fund-raiser for Blagojevich in his later political career.[12] Blagojevich spent much of his childhood working odd jobs to help the family pay its bills. He was a shoeshiner and pizza delivery boy before working at a meat packing plant.[9] In order to afford university costs, Blagojevich worked for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System as a dishwasher.[9]

Blagojevich does not have a middle name, but uses the initial "R" in honor of his deceased father.[13] His nickname in the family was "Milorad", which some have mistakenly thought to be his name at birth.[14]

Blagojevich graduated from Chicago's Foreman High School after transferring from Lane Technical High School. He played basketball in high school, and participated in two fights after training as a Golden Gloves boxer.[15] After graduation, he enrolled at the University of Tampa.[16] After two years, he transferred to Northwestern University in suburban Evanston, where he graduated in 1979 with a B.A. in history. He earned his J.D. from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983. He later said of the experience: "I went to law school at a place called Pepperdine in Malibu, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean — a lot of surfing and movie stars and all the rest. I barely knew where that law library was."[11] Blagojevich is married to Patricia Mell, the daughter of former Chicago alderman Richard Mell.

Blagojevich voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and voted for his re-election in 1984.[17][18]

Amateur boxing career edit

Blagojevich had an amateur boxing career which spanned 13 months and included Golden Gloves competition. He trained under Jerry Marzillo in Chicago's Park District, and he fought some of his matches at the St. Andrews Gym in Chicago's Northside.[19]

Early career edit

 
Official portrait as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1997–2003.

Prosecutor edit

Blagojevich clerked for Chicago Alderman Edward Vrdolyak.[20] Blagojevich then took a job as Cook County Assistant State's Attorney (assistant prosecutor) under State's Attorney Richard M. Daley,[20] specializing in domestic abuse crimes and felony weapons cases.[21][22]

State and federal legislator edit

In 1992, with the backing of his influential father-in-law, Blagojevich unseated 14-year incumbent Myron Kulas in the Democratic primary for the 33rd state house district, in the Illinois House of Representatives, which includes part of Chicago's North Side.[23] As is the case with most state legislative elections in Chicago, this virtually assured him of election in November.[20][24][25] He drew on his experiences as a prosecutor to draft bills that he argued would strengthen the state's judicial system and reduce crime.

In 1996, Blagojevich did not seek reelection to the statehouse but instead ran for Illinois's 5th congressional district, based on the North Side. The district had long been represented by Dan Rostenkowski, who served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Rostenkowski lost reelection in 1994 to Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan after pleading guilty to mail fraud. However, Flanagan was a conservative Republican representing a heavily Democratic district and was regarded as a heavy underdog. Blagojevich soundly defeated Flanagan by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, with support from his father-in-law. He was elected two more times, taking 74% against a nominal Republican challenger in 1998 and having only a Libertarian opponent in 2000.

Blagojevich was not known as a particularly active congressman. In the late 1990s, he traveled with Jesse Jackson to Belgrade in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to negotiate with President Slobodan Milošević for the release of American prisoners of war.[20]

On October 10, 2002, Blagojevich was one of 81 House Democrats, and one of only two from Illinois (the other being David D. Phelps), who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.[26]

Gubernatorial campaigns edit

2002 election edit

See also: 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election

During 2002, Blagojevich campaigned for his party's nomination to become governor. Blagojevich won a close primary campaign against former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris and Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas, who ran well in the suburban collar counties of Chicago.[27] Blagojevich finished strongly in Southern Illinois, winning 55% of the primary vote downstate, enough to win a primary victory by a thin margin.[20]

During the primary, state Senator Barack Obama backed Burris but, at Burris's suggestion, supported Blagojevich after he won the primary,[28] serving as a "top adviser" for the general election.[29] Future Obama senior adviser David Axelrod had previously worked with Blagojevich on congressional campaigns, but did not consider Blagojevich ready to be governor and declined to work for him on this campaign.[29] According to Rahm Emanuel, he, Obama, Blagojevich's campaign co-chair David Wilhelm, and another Blagojevich staffer "were the top strategists of Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial victory", meeting weekly to outline campaign strategies.[29] However, Wilhelm has said that Emanuel overstated Obama's role in the sessions, and Emanuel said in December 2008 that Wilhelm was correct and he had been wrong in his earlier 2008 recollection to The New Yorker.[29]

In the general election, Blagojevich defeated Republican Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan.[20] Blagojevich's campaign was helped by his well-connected father-in-law, Chicago alderman Richard Mell.[20] Ethics scandals had plagued the previous administration of Republican George Ryan (no relation to Jim Ryan), and Blagojevich's campaign focused on the theme of "ending business as usual" in state government.[30] Polls prior to the election found that many Illinois voters were confused about the names of George Ryan and Jim Ryan, a fact which Blagojevich used to his advantage.[31] He asked, "How can you replace one Ryan with another Ryan and call that change? You want change? Elect a guy named Blagojevich."[31] Blagojevich won with 52% of the vote over Jim Ryan.[31] On election night, he said: "Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, Illinois has voted for change."[30]

2006 reelection edit

See also: 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election
 
Blagojevich (left) with Emil Jones (center) and Jeffrey Schoenberg (right) at the Illinois Executive Mansion for a luncheon after Barack Obama launched his 2008 campaign in 2007.

From 2005 to 2006, Blagojevich served as federal liaison for the Democratic Governors Association. In 2005, Blagojevich also served as a Chair of the Midwestern Governors Association.

Numerous scandals brought the governor's approval rating as low as 36 percent, with 56 percent disapproving near the end of 2005.[32] By early 2006, five Republicans campaigned in the primary for the right to challenge him in the general election, with state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka eventually winning the nomination.

Blagojevich formally began his 2006 reelection campaign for Governor of Illinois on February 19, 2006. He won the Democratic primary on March 21 with 72% of the vote against challenger Edwin Eisendrath, whom Blagojevich would not debate.[33] He convinced Democratic state senator James Meeks not to launch a third-party campaign by promising to attempt to lease out the state lottery to provide education funding.[34]

Blagojevich was endorsed by many Democratic leaders (with the notable exception of Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who claimed it was a conflict of interest since her office was investigating him),[35] including then-Illinois Senator Barack Obama, who endorsed the governor in early 2005 and spoke on his behalf at the August 2006 Illinois State Fair.[29] Blagojevich was also endorsed by the state's Sierra Club, the only Illinois governor ever endorsed by the organization.[36] The union American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees declined to endorse Blagojevich for reelection, citing the 500 jobs he eliminated from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, which left some state parks unsupervised.[37]

 
Sign reading "Open Road Tolling Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor"

In 2004, Blagojevich had ordered the Illinois Tollway to erect 32 signs at a cost of $480,000, announcing "Open Road Tolling. Rod R. Blagojevich, Governor." In 2006, the signs were criticized for serving as campaign signs and costing significantly more than the common $200 signs.

In the general election, Blagojevich defeated Topinka and the Green Party's Rich Whitney, outspending Topinka $27 million to $6 million.[38][39] He attempted to tie Topinka to former Republican governor George Ryan's corruption.[40] Topinka ran advertisements detailing Blagojevich's federal investigations and non-endorsements by major state Democrats such as Lisa Madigan.[35] A three-term state treasurer, Topinka said that she had attempted to stop Blagojevich from using money from special funds for general expenditures without approval of the legislature; she said Blagojevich used the funds for projects meant to distract voters from his associates' corruption trials: "This constant giving away of money ... a million here, a million there, it raids our already hamstrung government and deadbeat state."[41] Topinka's spokesman claimed that Blagojevich was the most investigated governor in Illinois history.[42] Topinka lost to Blagojevich by 11%.[35]

Governor of Illinois (2003–2009) edit

 
Blagojevich greeting President George W. Bush in 2005

After the 2002 elections, Democrats had control of the Illinois House, Senate, and all but one statewide office. While in office, Blagojevich signed progressive legislation such as ethics reform, death penalty reform, a state Earned Income Tax Credit, a statewide comprehensive smoking ban and expansions of health programs like KidCare and FamilyCare (FamilyCare was ruled unconstitutional).[11] Blagojevich signed a bill in 2005 that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, housing, public accommodations, and credit. Blagojevich originally campaigned against pork barrel spending, but eventually used it himself to gain more votes for bills.[11]

Soon after taking office in 2003, Blagojevich continued support of a moratorium on executions of death row inmates, even though no such executions are likely to occur for years (his predecessor, George Ryan, commuted all of the death sentences in the state shortly before leaving office in 2003).[43] This support continued through his administration.[44]

Another notable action of his term was a strict new ethics law. When campaigning for re-election in 2006, Blagojevich said that if his ethics law had existed when former governor George Ryan had been in office, Ryan's corruption might not have occurred.[42] Blagojevich also signed a comprehensive death penalty reform bill that was written by then-Senator Barack Obama and the late U.S. Senator Paul M. Simon. Organized labor and African Americans were Blagojevich's staunchest political supporters.[34] In 2008, he told a group of African-Americans that he sometimes considered himself the first African American governor of Illinois.[45]

Education edit

Blagojevich oversaw record increases in funding for education every year without raising general sales or income taxes. He was criticized by Republicans and many moderate Democrats for using funds from the state pension system in order to fund other spending.[20] Another early 2006 proposal included "PreSchool for All" for all three- and four-year-old children in Illinois. Legislation authorizing the program was adopted as part of the fiscal year 2007 budget.[46]

Proposed capital programs edit

On January 10, 2006, Blagojevich announced a proposal for a new $3 billion (US) spending plan for Illinois roads, mass transit, and schools, to be paid for by increased tax revenue and new gambling proposals (such as Keno and lottery games).[47] The proposal met with immediate opposition by members of the Republican Party of Illinois and many Democrats, who viewed it as "an election year ploy". The suggestion to legalize Keno within Illinois was later withdrawn.[48] As of 2008, Blagojevich had been unable for five years to agree to a capital plan that would improve Illinois infrastructure.[20]

In March 2008, Blagojevich announced a bipartisan coalition, chaired by former U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Former U.S. Congressman Glenn Poshard, to develop a capital construction plan that could pass the Illinois General Assembly. The Illinois Works Coalition toured the state and developed a compromise $34 billion package that relied on a lease of the Illinois Lottery, road funds, and expanded gambling for funding.[49] The plan passed the Senate but stalled in the Illinois House, with opposition from Democrats.[34]

Special sessions edit

Blagojevich called the Illinois General Assembly into special session 36 times while in office, which is half of the total number of special sessions called since 1970.[20] The sessions were blamed for disrupting lawmakers' time off, while Blagojevich himself did not attend the sessions.[39]

Relationships with lawmakers edit

Blagojevich disagreed with many state Democrats while in office, with House and Senate Republican leaders Frank Watson and Tom Cross often refereeing among the Democrats.[20] During 2008, Blagojevich even expressed fear that House Democrats would gain more seats and he would face more opposition.[50]

Blagojevich's lieutenant governor was Pat Quinn. Quinn and Blagojevich publicly disagreed over[20] Blagojevich's proposed Gross Receipts Tax to increase revenue for schools and other projects within Illinois.[51] Quinn said in December 2008, that he had last spoken to Blagojevich in the summer of 2007.[52] Blagojevich also feuded with Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Comptroller Dan Hynes, Secretary of State Jesse White, and state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias — all of whom are Democrats.[20]

Blagojevich was often at odds with members of both parties in the state legislature. Democratic legislator Jack Franks said that the reason Blagojevich had problems passing laws with the cooperation of the General Assembly is that he did not spend enough time with the legislature. "That's a real reason he has such poor relations with the Legislature and can't get any of his agenda passed, because he doesn't talk to anybody."[53] When lawmakers working on a budget during a special session met at 10 am rather than 2 pm, and Blagojevich's attorney threatened that the Governor was considering legal action against the involved representatives, Democratic Rep. Joe Lyons told reporters, "We have a madman. The man is insane."[54]

 
Quincy mayor John Spring appears at a press conference with Blagojevich to discuss Mississippi River flood-relief efforts in 2008.

Although Barack Obama served as an adviser to Blagojevich's 2002 gubernatorial campaign, by all accounts, Blagojevich and Obama have been estranged for years.[28][52][55] Blagojevich did not endorse Obama in the 2004 United States Senate race, and Obama did not invite Blagojevich to speak at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, as he did Lisa Madigan, Hynes, and Giannoulias.[28] Blagojevich has had a "friendly rapport" with the man who took over his congressional seat, Rahm Emanuel.[56]

Blagojevich has also disagreed publicly with then-Democratic Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley; after their dispute over Chicago Transit Authority funding, Daley called Blagojevich "cuckoo" and said he did not want to argue with the Governor since "He's arguing with everybody in America."[57] Blagojevich replied, "I don't think I'm cuckoo."[57]

Soon after a meeting of 2007 with Democratic State Senator Mike Jacobs, meant to convince Jacobs to vote for Blagojevich's health insurance proposals, Jacobs emerged telling reporters that the Governor "blew up at him like a 10-year-old child", Blagojevich would not comment on the alleged incident.[54] Jacobs said during 2008: "This is a governor who I don't think has a single ally, except for Senate president Emil Jones — and that's tenuous at best." Jones and Blagojevich sometimes collaborated, while at other times they disagreed on funding for education.[20]

During a 2008 Congressional race pitting Democratic state senator Debbie Halvorson against Republican Marty Ozinga, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ran television advertisements attempting to help Halvorson by linking Republican Ozinga to Blagojevich, asserting that Ozinga had given campaign donations to the Democratic governor.[58]

The Daily Show appearances edit

During early February 2006, Blagojevich appeared on The Daily Show to discuss the governor's executive order that pharmacists must dispense any drugs for which a customer had a valid prescription, including birth control pills and Plan B. This measure was being challenged on the show by state legislator Ron Stephens from Greenville, Illinois. Blagojevich was interviewed by Jason Jones, who repeatedly pretended to be unable to pronounce Blagojevich's name and simply called him "Governor Smith". At one point in the interview, Jones, who was acting as if he were against the governor's order, told him, "I'll be in charge of what my listeners hear." This prompted Blagojevich to turn to the camera and ask, "Is he teasing me or is that legit?" Two weeks after the interview, Blagojevich said that he was unaware of the nature of the show.[59][60] Stephens said he knew beforehand that the show was a comedy show: "I thought the governor was hip enough that he would have known that, too."[59]

Stephens later said, "With all due respect to the governor, he knew it was a comedy show. It's general knowledge for people under 90 years of age. It was when he came off looking so silly that he said he thought it was a regular news program. Even assuming he didn't know about it beforehand, we had to sign a release before the interview."[61]

Blagojevich made another appearance on The Daily Show on August 23, 2010, after his removal from office. During his time on the show, he vehemently defended himself against host Jon Stewart's critique of things that he had previously said on the show. Stewart focused on how Blagojevich had expressed a great desire to tell his side in court, but then did not. Stewart attempted to get a promise that next time, Blagojevich would testify. Stewart also focused on Blagojevich's previous statement to him, that if one heard the famous "effing golden" statement in context, it would be seen as innocent. Stewart played the additional recording, and asked him how that sounded any different. The former governor had no concrete answers.[62]

Political positions edit

State spending edit

Blagojevich was criticized for using what his opponents called "gimmicks" to balance the state budget. Republicans claimed that he was simply passing the state's fiscal problems on to future generations by borrowing his way to balanced budgets. Indeed, the 2005 state budget called for paying the bills by underfunding a state employees' pension fund by $1.2 billion.[20][63] During 2008, Blagojevich proposed issuing $16 billion in new bonds for the state to meet pension fund requirements.[64] Blagojevich once told a gathering of black ministers on Chicago's South Side that he was "on the side of our Lord" with his budget proposals.[51]

Blagojevich proposed a budget for 2008 with a 5% increase from the year before.[64] Budget reductions of some programs caused Blagojevich to attempt to close 11 state parks and 13 state historic sites, with his spokesman saying Blagojevich had never visited any of them.[2][65] To plug state budget holes, Blagojevich at one point proposed selling the James R. Thompson Center or mortgaging it. Blagojevich was also criticized for his handling of the 2007 state budget. In particular, critics cited his unprecedented use of line-item and reduction vetoes to remove his political opponents' "member initiatives" from the budget bill.[66][3][67]

During 2003, more than 1,000 Illinois judges began a class action lawsuit against Blagojevich, because Blagojevich had stopped constitutionally-required cost of living pay increases for the judges due to budget reductions.[68] The case was settled in the judges' favor in 2005, with Blagojevich's veto ruled as violating the state's constitution.[68]

Health care edit

 
Blagojevich with then Congressman, Rahm Emanuel (D-Chicago) advocating for changes in Medicare legislation.

During a suspected shortage of the flu vaccine in 2004, Blagojevich ordered 260,000 doses from overseas distributors, which the Food and Drug Administration had warned would be barred from entering the United States.[69] Although the vaccine doses had cost the state $2.6 million, the FDA refused to allow them into the country, and a buyer could not be found; they were donated to earthquake survivors in Pakistan a year later.[69] However, the lots had expired, and Pakistan destroyed the vaccines.[70]

Also in 2004, Blagojevich's plans to set up a website for Illinois residents to import medication from Canada and the United Kingdom was blocked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Imported medication would have saved users of the service 25 to 50 percent over domestic drugs.[71]

Blagojevich issued an executive order during 2004 requiring pharmacists in the state to dispense "morning-after" birth control, even if they object on moral or religious grounds. This order was legally challenged.[72] Later in 2007, opponents of the governor's executive order reached a settlement with the state in one case, causing partial removal of the order. The settlement, which followed the Illinois Supreme Court's decision in September 2007 to hear an appeal of a lawsuit challenging the executive order, allowed pharmacists to decline to dispense birth control, so long as they provided information to customers about pharmacists who did.[73] In another case, Morr-Fitz v. Blagojevich (later Morr-Fitz v. Quinn), the Illinois Court of Appeals ruled against Blagojevich's order.[74]

During October 2005, Blagojevich announced All Kids, his plan to provide access to state-subsidized healthcare for every child in Illinois.[75] Signed into law by Blagojevich in November 2005, All Kids made Illinois the first state in the U.S. to attempt to legally require itself to provide universal affordable and comprehensive healthcare for children, regardless of income and immigration status.[76]

During March 2007, Blagojevich announced and campaigned for his universal healthcare plan, Illinois Covered.[77] The plan was debated in the Illinois State Senate, but came one vote short of passing.[78] He proposed to pay for the plan with the largest tax increase in Illinois history.[20][54] He proposed a gross receipts tax on businesses, a $7.6 billion tax increase, with proceeds earmarked to provide universal healthcare in Illinois, increase education spending by $1.5 billion, fund a $25 billion capital construction plan, and reduce the State's $40 billion pension debt. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called for a vote on a non-binding resolution on whether the state should impose a gross receipts tax. When it became apparent that the resolution would be defeated, Blagojevich announced at the last minute that supporters should vote against it, although the vote was intended to be a test vote to gauge whether the measure had any support.[79] The request was seen by many lawmakers from both parties as an attempt to spin the loss positively.[79] It was defeated by a vote of 107–0,[79][80] which the Associated Press termed "jaw-dropping".[54] When asked about the vote of the day, Blagojevich said, "Today, I think, was basically an up. ... I feel good about it."[33]

Blagojevich also successfully proposed a new tax on businesses that do not provide health insurance to their employees.[64]

Lawmakers did not approve another initiative of Blagojevich's, FamilyCare (which would provide healthcare for families of four making up to $82,000), but Blagojevich attempted to implement the plan unilaterally by executive order.[81] In rejecting Blagojevich's executive order, a legislative committee questioned how the state would pay for the program.[82] Blagojevich's decision has been called unconstitutional by two courts, which nullified the plan. However, during October 2008, pharmacies which had followed Blagojevich's directive to dispense drugs under the plan were informed by his administration that they would not be reimbursed and would have payments given under the system deducted from future Medicaid payments.[83] One state lawmaker, Republican Ron Stephens, suggested that Blagojevich should pay the difference out of his own personal account.[83] The Pantagraph agreed with Stephens in an editorial.[84]

Associated Press attempted under the Freedom of Information Act to discover how the state planned to pay for the Blagojevich-ordered program, how many people were enrolled, or how much the care had cost the state but were refused the information by state departments.[85]

Business edit

After Blagojevich pushed for a law banning sales of certain video games to minors, a federal judge declared the law violated the First Amendment, with the state ordered to pay $520,000 in legal fees.[86]

 
Blagojevich greets students at Illinois State University in 2006

Blagojevich vetoed three bills[87][88][89] that would permit trucks to drive 65 mph outside the Chicago area instead of the current 55 mph, stating that one bill "compromises safety".[90]

Blagojevich threatened to stop the state's dealings with Bank of America Corp. over a shut-down factory in Chicago. On December 8, 2008, all state agencies were ordered to stop conducting business with Bank of America to pressure the company to make the loans. Blagojevich said the biggest U.S. retail bank would not get any more state business unless it restored credit to Republic Windows and Doors, whose workers were staging a sit-in. John Douglas, a former general counsel for the FDIC and attorney for Bank of America, called Blagojevich's gambit dangerous.[91][92]

Gun control edit

Blagojevich has been described as a "staunch" supporter of gun control.[93]

During his February 2006 "State of the State" address, Blagojevich said the state should ban semi-automatic firearms.

As a state legislator, Blagojevich proposed raising the price of an Illinois Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card from $5 to $500. Blagojevich vetoed three gun bills in 2005, which would have:

  1. Deleted records in gun database after 90 days
  2. Eliminated the waiting period for someone wanting to buy a rifle or shotgun, when trading in a previously owned weapon
  3. Overridden local laws regulating transport of firearms.[94]

Oprah Winfrey edit

In early 2009, Blagojevich reported being so impressed by Oprah Winfrey's influence on the election of Barack Obama that he considered offering Obama's vacant Senate seat to Winfrey. Blagojevich summarized his reasons for considering Winfrey on various talk shows:

To begin with, she was perhaps the most instrumental person in electing Barack Obama president. She is a larger-than-life figure in America and around the world. She has a huge bully pulpit and tremendous support across America ... She has a voice larger than all 100 senators combined. And if she was a U.S. Senator, she would be a voice for the Obama program, which she supports, and she would be in a position to be able to use an unbelievable bully pulpit to be able to get it done. She obviously can't be bought. And she's actually a very, obviously, in my judgment, a very impressive and a very nice person.[95] ... On the other hand, how likely is it she'd give up what she's doing for that? I mean, being a senator's a big deal, but it ain't Oprah.[96]

Winfrey noted that although she was uninterested, she did feel she could be a senator.[97]

Political analyst Chris Matthews praised Blagojevich's idea of making Winfrey a senator, suggesting that in one move it would diversify the Senate and raise its collective IQ. Elaborating further he said:

Anybody who doesn't think Winfrey would be a great senator from Illinois or anywhere is crazy. She gets along with everybody. She brings people together. She finds common ground. She's way past race politics 20 years ago. She's so far ahead of most people in human relations. And she listens ... I think she is up there with Will Rogers and Bob Hope and some of our great public personalities of the last century.

Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times agreed with Matthews, writing Winfrey would be "terrific" and an "enormously popular pick".[98]

Personal style edit

Blagojevich was famed for his flamboyant dress style, such as his taste for Charvet ties.[99][100] After the Justice Department complaint was made public, Blagojevich's hairstyle became the subject of discussion and jokes for national and local media personalities. Blagojevich insisted his aides always carry a hairbrush for him. He referred to it as "the football", alluding to the term nuclear football, which represents the bomb launch codes never to be out of reach of the president.[38]

Impeachment, removal from office, trial edit

Main article: Rod Blagojevich corruption charges
 
U.S. Marshals photo of Blagojevich on the day of his arrest
'Governor Arrested for Bribery' – video news report about Blagojevich from Voice of America, December 10, 2008

Blagojevich threatened to stop the state's dealings with Bank of America Corp. over a shut-down factory in Chicago. This caused U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald,[101] to direct Blagojevich's arrest at his home by federal agents on December 9, 2008, and charge him with corruption. The Justice Department complaint alleged that the governor conspired to commit several "pay to play" schemes, including attempting "to obtain personal gain ... through the corrupt use" of his authority to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama following his election as president, claiming that in wiretapped recordings Blagojevich discussed his desire to get something in exchange for an appointment to the seat. After various outreach efforts, he appointed former state attorney general Roland Burris on New Year's Eve 2008. Burris was seated after some initial opposition in mid-January 2009.[102] A trial was set for June 3, 2010,[103] and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald spoke out on the charges,[104] characterizing Blagojevich's actions as trying to auction the open seat off to "the highest bidder".

The Illinois House and Senate moved quickly to impeach the governor for abuse of power and corruption. On January 8, the Illinois House voted 114–1 (with three abstentions) to impeach Blagojevich.[105][106] The charges brought by the House emphasized Blagojevich's alleged abuses of power and his alleged attempts to sell legislative authorizations and/or vetoes, and gubernatorial appointments including that of Obama's vacated Senate seat. Blagojevich was taped by the FBI saying "I've got this thing, and it's fucking golden. I'm just not giving it up for fucking nothing."[107]

On January 27, 2009, Blagojevich began a media campaign planned by publicist Glenn Selig. During the two-day campaign, he visited Today, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The View, multiple programs on Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC where he proclaimed his innocence and insisted he would be vindicated.

On January 29, 2009, Blagojevich was removed from office and prohibited from ever holding public office in the state of Illinois again, by two separate and unanimous votes of 59–0 by the Illinois Senate. His lieutenant governor Patrick Quinn subsequently became governor of Illinois.[108]

Blagojevich's impeachment trial and removal from office did not affect his federal indictment in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, since impeachment is a political as opposed to a criminal sanction in addition to being (in this particular case) a punishment imposed at the state level.[109]

Post-removal activities edit

After being convicted and removed from office by the Illinois Senate, Blagojevich went on Late Show with David Letterman and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, where he re-affirmed his innocence and stated that the Illinois legislature's decision to remove him from office was politically motivated, being due to his unwillingness to raise taxes. He has accused his successor, Pat Quinn, of using state funds excessively for personal leisure. A report later released by the Governor's office showed that most of Quinn's transportation fees were paid for by Quinn himself and that Quinn never accepted the $32 meal allowance from the State.[110]

Blagojevich attempted to make a deal to star in NBC's 2009 summer reality show I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me out of Here! He made a request with the judge to ease his travel restrictions so that he could travel to Costa Rica to star in the show, saying that his family needed to make money. However, his request was formally rejected by U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel, who was sympathetic to Blagojevich's financial situation, but nevertheless stated, "I don't think this defendant fully understands and I don't think he could understand ... the position he finds himself in." Judge Zagel went on further to note that Blagojevich must prepare for his defense.[111]

Despite the ruling, NBC expressed an interest in negotiating with the judge to have Blagojevich as a part of the show. His wife took his place on the show, which began airing June 1, 2009.[112][113] He told an interviewer he found it difficult to watch his wife eat a dead tarantula on the broadcast, but remarked that her willingness to participate in the show was "an act of love" because she was earning funds to alleviate their adverse financial position.[114]

On June 13, 2009, Blagojevich starred in the improv group The Second City's musical Rod Blagojevich Superstar. He performed in order to support the charity Gilda's Club Chicago, which offers support for people living with cancer.[115]

On June 30, 2009, Blagojevich's autobiography The Governor: The Truth Behind the Political Scandal That Continues to Rock the Nation[116] was announced for print release on September 8, 2009.[117] The book was also released by Amazon.com for sale as an eBook on the Kindle on the same day as the announcement.[118]

On July 19, 2009, Blagojevich began hosting a two-hour weekly radio talk show on 890 WLS, which aired mid-day Sundays.[119][120] He had previously been a guest host of the "Don Wade and Roma Morning Show" on WLS in March 2009.[119][121] On June 2, 2010, WLS placed Blagojevich's radio show on hiatus while his corruption trial was ongoing.[122]

Blagojevich appeared on season 9 of The Celebrity Apprentice in Spring 2010, asserting that he has the "skill and know-how to get things accomplished" on the series. Series star and producer Donald Trump praised Blagojevich's "tremendous courage and guts", and predicted that he would become one of the show's breakout stars.[123] Trump subsequently fired Blagojevich in the fourth episode of the season, which aired April 4, 2010.[124]

In an interview with Esquire in January 2010, Blagojevich said about President Obama, "Everything he's saying's on the teleprompter. I'm blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where he lived. I saw it all growing up." He soon backpedaled from the term "blacker than", saying that he had chosen his words poorly, but he stood by his message that "the frustration is real, and the frustration is still, today, average, ordinary people aren't getting a fair shake."[125]

Blagojevich made an appearance at the Wizard World Chicago comic convention in August 2010, conversing with and taking pictures with attendees. He charged $50 for an autograph and $80 for a photo. He also had a humorous televised meeting with Adam West; Blagojevich remarked that he considered The Joker to be the best Batman foil. Comic fandom website Bleeding Cool reported that Blagojevich had met with a mostly positive reception, while Time Out Chicago described it as mixed.[126][127]

Federal trial and conviction edit

 
FCI Englewood, where Blagojevich was located

Blagojevich was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2009.[128] Most of the charges were related to attempts to sell the Senate seat vacated by then-President-elect Barack Obama.[129] On August 17, 2010, he was convicted on one of the 24 federal charges, a charge of lying to the FBI, and the jury was hung on 23 other counts.[109] The defense did not call a single witness, claiming that prosecutors did not prove their case. Because the jury could not agree on the remaining charges, a mistrial was ordered for those counts. Within 15 minutes after the mistrial was declared, the prosecution team announced that they would definitely pursue a retrial on the 23 mistrial counts. A post-verdict court date was set for August 23, 2010. Federal prosecutors reduced the number of counts for Blagojevich's retrial, and, on June 27, 2011, he was found guilty of 17 of the 20 remaining charges and not guilty on one, and no verdict was rendered by the jury on two counts.[130] He was found guilty on all charges pertaining to the Senate seat, as well as extortion relating to state funds being directed towards a children's hospital and race track. However, he was acquitted on a charge pertaining to the tollway extortion and avoided a guilty verdict (by split decision) on attempting to extort Rahm Emanuel.[131][132][133]

 
Blagojevich waves as he leaves his house to begin serving his sentence

He reported to prison on March 15, 2012, at Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood, Colorado.[134] His Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) number was 40892–424.[135] Had his sentence not been commuted by President Donald Trump, under federal rules, Blagojevich would have served at least 85%,[136] or 12 years, of his sentence after which time he may have been eligible for early release in March 2024, based on good behavior. However, President Trump commuted his sentence so he was released on February 18, 2020.[137]

While in the federal penitentiary, Blagojevich was the lead singer for prison band called "The Jailhouse Rockers", named after an Elvis Presley song. The band dissolved when the lead guitarist was released.[138]

He was the fourth Illinois governor to serve time in federal prison, after Otto Kerner Jr., Dan Walker (Post governorship criminal activity), and George Ryan (Crimes starting during his prior service as Secretary of State).[139]

Appeal edit

Blagojevich appealed his conviction, claiming judicial bias and a tainted jury pool. He has also long contended that there was critical evidence the jury never heard, including witness testimony and recorded phone calls that Judge Zagel did not allow to be played during the trial. They have also argued that Blagojevich's own testimony was restricted by Judge Zagel's rulings.[140]

In July 2013, Blagojevich filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago challenging the corruption conviction and the length of his prison term.[141] A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit heard arguments in the case in December 2013. In July 2015, the court unanimously vacated five of the corruption convictions, including his convictions for attempting to sell Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat after he was elected president, but affirmed the rest. The court's decision remanded to the district court.[142] The Seventh Circuit denied Blagojevich's request for rehearing en banc,[143] and in March 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States denied Blagojevich's petition for a writ of certiorari.[144]

In August 2016, a resentencing hearing was held in the district court. Judge Zagel re-imposed the same 14-year sentence he had imposed in 2011. Zagel acknowledged the suffering of Blagojevich's family and Blagojevich's good conduct in prison, but found that Blagojevich's corrupt conduct still warranted a 14-year sentence.[145] Blagojevich's attorneys appealed to the 7th Circuit, but failed; then filed another appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on November 3, 2017.[146] Meanwhile, unrepentant, Blagojevich continued to fight his conviction and sentence in the media.[147][148][149] His wife Patti joined him in attracting press attention to his cause and criticism of the federal judiciary.[150] On April 16, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal, the second time in two years.[151]

Commutation edit

President Donald Trump, hours after having pardoned commentator Dinesh D'Souza, told reporters on May 31, 2018, that he was considering commuting Blagojevich's sentence (without pardoning him), as well as pardoning Martha Stewart. Trump called Blagojevich's sentence "unfair", saying that Blagojevich's statements about enriching himself were "stupid", but also the sort of thing "that many other politicians say".[152] Blagojevich filed a petition officially asking President Trump for commutation of sentence on June 5, 2018.[153] In August 2019, Trump commented to reporters that he was "very strongly" considering issuing a commutation.[154]

President Donald Trump speaks about commuting Blagojevich on February 18, 2020. Video from White House.

On February 18, 2020, President Trump commuted Blagojevich's 14-year corruption sentence, wiping away the sentence but not the conviction.[4] "I don't know him very well, I've met him a couple of times, he was on for a short time on The Apprentice years ago, seemed like a very nice person, don't know him, but he served eight years in jail, there's a long time to go," Trump said to reporters.[155] Some news sources noted that, in addition to The Apprentice connection, Trump and his organization had made contributions to Blagojevich's political campaigns, including his 2002 gubernatorial campaign.[156]

Blagojevich was released from prison that day, and flew home to Chicago that night. Speaking to reporters after his release, he stated, "I'm profoundly grateful to President Trump, and I will be for as long as I live." He said Trump was "a man who's not only tough and outspoken, strong, but he has a kind heart", and proclaimed himself to be a "Trump-ocrat".[157] On February 19, Blagojevich held a press conference at his home in Chicago's Ravenswood neighborhood, where he remained defiant towards his conviction, describing himself as a "political prisoner", and promised to use his experience in prison to fix the broken criminal justice system.[158][159][160]

Illinois House GOP leader Jim Durkin criticized the President's decision to commute Blagojevich's sentence, stating that Blagojevich was "rogue on steroids" when he "abused the office" and that Trump was "not concerned about the people of Illinois in November."[161] The commutation was satirized by Chicago-based The Wieners Circle.[162] Following the commutation, the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission found that Blagojevich had engaged in "a pattern of dishonest and deceptive conduct" and recommended his disbarment to the Illinois Supreme Court.[163] On May 18, 2020, the Supreme Court of Illinois officially disbarred him.[164]

In August of the same year, it was announced that Blagojevich would be the featured speaker at a fundraising event to benefit Republican state senate candidate Tom McCullagh. The candidate's campaign stated that "McCullagh is welcoming [Blagojevich] to the table to give us an inside look to help understand the depths of the Madigan machine and how to end corruption in Illinois."[165]

Post-political career edit

In May 2020, Blagojevich launched a politics-themed podcast titled The Lightning Rod on WLS-AM 890.[166] The podcast ran through September 2021.[167]

Electoral history edit

House of Representatives edit

See also: Illinois' 5th congressional district

1996

1998

  • Rod Blagojevich (inc.), Democratic: 74%
  • Alan Spitz, Republican: 24%

2000

  • Rod Blagojevich (inc.), Democratic: 87%
  • Matt Beauchamp, Libertarian: 13%

Gubernatorial elections edit

2002 gubernatorial election, Illinois

  • Rod Blagojevich, Democratic: 1,818,823, 52.0%
  • Jim Ryan, Republican: 1,582,604, 45.2%
  • Cal Skinner, Libertarian: 73,404, 2.1%
  • Marisellis Brown, Independent: 22,803, 0.7%

2006 gubernatorial election, Illinois

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External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rod Blagojevich.
 
Wikinews has related news:
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Wikiquote has quotations related to Rod Blagojevich.
  • Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
  • Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
  • Indictment U.S. v. Blagojevich, et al. FindLaw
  • Department of Justice, December 9, 2008, press release
  • , December 9, 2008, copy of 76-page complaint (text version)
  • People of the State of Illinois v. Rod Blagojevich, Governor of Illinois brief, Motion for TRO, Supporting Record TRO
  • Gov. Blagojevich Chicago Sun-Times, ongoing coverage
  • Complete Blagojevich Coverage Chicago Tribune, ongoing coverage
  • Second Superseding Indictment, United States of America v. Rod Blagojevich, Alonzo Monk, John Harris and Robert Blagojevich
  • Appearances on C-SPAN
Illinois House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the Illinois House of Representatives
from the 33rd district
1993–1997 		Succeeded by
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Illinois's 5th congressional district
1997–2003 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois
2002, 2006 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Governor of Illinois
2003–2009 		Succeeded by
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded byas Former Governor Order of precedence of the United States Succeeded byas Former Governor

February 15, 2024
blagojevich, blagojevich, redirects, here, other, people, named, blagojevich, blagojević, ɔɪ, blə, vitch, born, december, 1956, often, referred, nickname, blago, american, politician, political, commentator, convicted, felon, served, 40th, governor, illinois, . Blagojevich redirects here For other people named Blagojevich see Blagojevic Rod Blagojevich b l e ˈ ɡ ɔɪ e v ɪ tʃ ble GOY e vitch born December 10 1956 often referred to by his nickname Blago 2 3 is an American politician political commentator and convicted felon who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009 He was impeached removed from office convicted and incarcerated for eight years on federal charges of public corruption A member of the Democratic Party Blagojevich previously worked in both the state and federal legislatures He served as an Illinois state representative from 1993 to 1997 and the U S representative from Illinois s 5th district from 1997 to 2003 Rod BlagojevichBlagojevich c 200740th Governor of IllinoisIn office January 13 2003 January 29 2009LieutenantPat QuinnPreceded byGeorge RyanSucceeded byPat QuinnMember of the U S House of Representatives from Illinois s 5th districtIn office January 3 1997 January 3 2003Preceded byMichael FlanaganSucceeded byRahm EmanuelMember of the Illinois House of Representatives from the 33rd districtIn office January 6 1993 January 3 1997Preceded byMyron KulasSucceeded byJohn FritcheyPersonal detailsBorn 1956 12 10 December 10 1956 age 67 Chicago Illinois U S Political partyDemocraticSpousePatricia MellChildren2EducationUniversity of TampaNorthwestern University BA Pepperdine University JD SignatureCriminal informationCriminal statusWas incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution EnglewoodSentence commuted February 18 2020 by President Donald TrumpConviction s Wire fraud 10 counts Bribery 3 counts Extortion 4 counts Making false statements 1 Criminal penaltyServed nearly 8 years of a 14 year sentence commutedBorn and raised in Chicago Blagojevich graduated from Northwestern University in 1979 and the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983 After graduating he became a criminal prosecutor at the Cook County State s Attorney Office during the late 1980s Turning to elective politics he represented the 33rd state house district in the Illinois House of Representatives where he supported mostly law and order policies Forgoing a third two year term in the state legislature he represented Illinois s 5th congressional district for six years winning re election twice He was elected Illinois governor in 2002 the first Democrat to win the office since 1972 There was increased public education funding infrastructure development and criminal justice reforms during his first term A 2006 re election and his second term led to the passage of a variety of healthcare gun control and anti discrimination bills Starting in December 2008 a federal investigation and trial found Blagojevich guilty of public corruption after he attempted to sell the U S Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama upon his election to the presidency Blagojevich was impeached convicted and removed from office in 2009 by the Illinois General Assembly He was also subsequently barred by the Illinois Senate from holding public office within the state ever again For his role in the corruption scandal Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison After an appeal for his release U S President Donald Trump formally commuted his sentence in 2020 after Blagojevich had been imprisoned for nearly eight years 4 5 From May 2020 to September 2021 Blagojevich hosted a politics themed radio program called The Lightning Rod on WLS AM Contents 1 Early life 1 1 Amateur boxing career 2 Early career 2 1 Prosecutor 2 2 State and federal legislator 3 Gubernatorial campaigns 3 1 2002 election 3 2 2006 reelection 4 Governor of Illinois 2003 2009 4 1 Education 4 2 Proposed capital programs 4 3 Special sessions 4 4 Relationships with lawmakers 4 5 The Daily Show appearances 5 Political positions 5 1 State spending 5 2 Health care 5 3 Business 5 4 Gun control 5 5 Oprah Winfrey 6 Personal style 7 Impeachment removal from office trial 7 1 Post removal activities 7 2 Federal trial and conviction 7 3 Appeal 7 4 Commutation 8 Post political career 9 Electoral history 9 1 House of Representatives 9 2 Gubernatorial elections 10 References 11 External linksEarly life editRod Blagojevich 6 7 was born in Chicago Illinois the second of two sons 8 of Serb immigrants from FPR Yugoslavia His father Rade B Blagojevich was an immigrant steel plant laborer from a village near Kragujevac PR Serbia 9 His mother Mila was a Herzegovinian Serb whose family was originally from Gacko PR Bosnia and Herzegovina 10 His parents moved to Chicago in 1947 Blagojevich s older brother Rob 11 worked as a fund raiser for Blagojevich in his later political career 12 Blagojevich spent much of his childhood working odd jobs to help the family pay its bills He was a shoeshiner and pizza delivery boy before working at a meat packing plant 9 In order to afford university costs Blagojevich worked for the Trans Alaska Pipeline System as a dishwasher 9 Blagojevich does not have a middle name but uses the initial R in honor of his deceased father 13 His nickname in the family was Milorad which some have mistakenly thought to be his name at birth 14 Blagojevich graduated from Chicago s Foreman High School after transferring from Lane Technical High School He played basketball in high school and participated in two fights after training as a Golden Gloves boxer 15 After graduation he enrolled at the University of Tampa 16 After two years he transferred to Northwestern University in suburban Evanston where he graduated in 1979 with a B A in history He earned his J D from the Pepperdine University School of Law in 1983 He later said of the experience I went to law school at a place called Pepperdine in Malibu California overlooking the Pacific Ocean a lot of surfing and movie stars and all the rest I barely knew where that law library was 11 Blagojevich is married to Patricia Mell the daughter of former Chicago alderman Richard Mell Blagojevich voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and voted for his re election in 1984 17 18 Amateur boxing career edit Blagojevich had an amateur boxing career which spanned 13 months and included Golden Gloves competition He trained under Jerry Marzillo in Chicago s Park District and he fought some of his matches at the St Andrews Gym in Chicago s Northside 19 Early career edit nbsp Official portrait as a member of the U S House of Representatives 1997 2003 Prosecutor edit Blagojevich clerked for Chicago Alderman Edward Vrdolyak 20 Blagojevich then took a job as Cook County Assistant State s Attorney assistant prosecutor under State s Attorney Richard M Daley 20 specializing in domestic abuse crimes and felony weapons cases 21 22 State and federal legislator edit In 1992 with the backing of his influential father in law Blagojevich unseated 14 year incumbent Myron Kulas in the Democratic primary for the 33rd state house district in the Illinois House of Representatives which includes part of Chicago s North Side 23 As is the case with most state legislative elections in Chicago this virtually assured him of election in November 20 24 25 He drew on his experiences as a prosecutor to draft bills that he argued would strengthen the state s judicial system and reduce crime In 1996 Blagojevich did not seek reelection to the statehouse but instead ran for Illinois s 5th congressional district based on the North Side The district had long been represented by Dan Rostenkowski who served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Rostenkowski lost reelection in 1994 to Republican Michael Patrick Flanagan after pleading guilty to mail fraud However Flanagan was a conservative Republican representing a heavily Democratic district and was regarded as a heavy underdog Blagojevich soundly defeated Flanagan by a nearly 2 to 1 margin with support from his father in law He was elected two more times taking 74 against a nominal Republican challenger in 1998 and having only a Libertarian opponent in 2000 Blagojevich was not known as a particularly active congressman In the late 1990s he traveled with Jesse Jackson to Belgrade in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to negotiate with President Slobodan Milosevic for the release of American prisoners of war 20 On October 10 2002 Blagojevich was one of 81 House Democrats and one of only two from Illinois the other being David D Phelps who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq 26 Gubernatorial campaigns edit2002 election edit See also 2002 Illinois gubernatorial election During 2002 Blagojevich campaigned for his party s nomination to become governor Blagojevich won a close primary campaign against former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris and Chicago Public Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas who ran well in the suburban collar counties of Chicago 27 Blagojevich finished strongly in Southern Illinois winning 55 of the primary vote downstate enough to win a primary victory by a thin margin 20 During the primary state Senator Barack Obama backed Burris but at Burris s suggestion supported Blagojevich after he won the primary 28 serving as a top adviser for the general election 29 Future Obama senior adviser David Axelrod had previously worked with Blagojevich on congressional campaigns but did not consider Blagojevich ready to be governor and declined to work for him on this campaign 29 According to Rahm Emanuel he Obama Blagojevich s campaign co chair David Wilhelm and another Blagojevich staffer were the top strategists of Blagojevich s 2002 gubernatorial victory meeting weekly to outline campaign strategies 29 However Wilhelm has said that Emanuel overstated Obama s role in the sessions and Emanuel said in December 2008 that Wilhelm was correct and he had been wrong in his earlier 2008 recollection to The New Yorker 29 In the general election Blagojevich defeated Republican Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan 20 Blagojevich s campaign was helped by his well connected father in law Chicago alderman Richard Mell 20 Ethics scandals had plagued the previous administration of Republican George Ryan no relation to Jim Ryan and Blagojevich s campaign focused on the theme of ending business as usual in state government 30 Polls prior to the election found that many Illinois voters were confused about the names of George Ryan and Jim Ryan a fact which Blagojevich used to his advantage 31 He asked How can you replace one Ryan with another Ryan and call that change You want change Elect a guy named Blagojevich 31 Blagojevich won with 52 of the vote over Jim Ryan 31 On election night he said Tonight ladies and gentlemen Illinois has voted for change 30 2006 reelection edit See also 2006 Illinois gubernatorial election nbsp Blagojevich left with Emil Jones center and Jeffrey Schoenberg right at the Illinois Executive Mansion for a luncheon after Barack Obama launched his 2008 campaign in 2007 From 2005 to 2006 Blagojevich served as federal liaison for the Democratic Governors Association In 2005 Blagojevich also served as a Chair of the Midwestern Governors Association Numerous scandals brought the governor s approval rating as low as 36 percent with 56 percent disapproving near the end of 2005 32 By early 2006 five Republicans campaigned in the primary for the right to challenge him in the general election with state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka eventually winning the nomination Blagojevich formally began his 2006 reelection campaign for Governor of Illinois on February 19 2006 He won the Democratic primary on March 21 with 72 of the vote against challenger Edwin Eisendrath whom Blagojevich would not debate 33 He convinced Democratic state senator James Meeks not to launch a third party campaign by promising to attempt to lease out the state lottery to provide education funding 34 Blagojevich was endorsed by many Democratic leaders with the notable exception of Attorney General Lisa Madigan who claimed it was a conflict of interest since her office was investigating him 35 including then Illinois Senator Barack Obama who endorsed the governor in early 2005 and spoke on his behalf at the August 2006 Illinois State Fair 29 Blagojevich was also endorsed by the state s Sierra Club the only Illinois governor ever endorsed by the organization 36 The union American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees declined to endorse Blagojevich for reelection citing the 500 jobs he eliminated from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources which left some state parks unsupervised 37 nbsp Sign reading Open Road Tolling Rod R Blagojevich Governor In 2004 Blagojevich had ordered the Illinois Tollway to erect 32 signs at a cost of 480 000 announcing Open Road Tolling Rod R Blagojevich Governor In 2006 the signs were criticized for serving as campaign signs and costing significantly more than the common 200 signs In the general election Blagojevich defeated Topinka and the Green Party s Rich Whitney outspending Topinka 27 million to 6 million 38 39 He attempted to tie Topinka to former Republican governor George Ryan s corruption 40 Topinka ran advertisements detailing Blagojevich s federal investigations and non endorsements by major state Democrats such as Lisa Madigan 35 A three term state treasurer Topinka said that she had attempted to stop Blagojevich from using money from special funds for general expenditures without approval of the legislature she said Blagojevich used the funds for projects meant to distract voters from his associates corruption trials This constant giving away of money a million here a million there it raids our already hamstrung government and deadbeat state 41 Topinka s spokesman claimed that Blagojevich was the most investigated governor in Illinois history 42 Topinka lost to Blagojevich by 11 35 Governor of Illinois 2003 2009 edit nbsp Blagojevich greeting President George W Bush in 2005After the 2002 elections Democrats had control of the Illinois House Senate and all but one statewide office While in office Blagojevich signed progressive legislation such as ethics reform death penalty reform a state Earned Income Tax Credit a statewide comprehensive smoking ban and expansions of health programs like KidCare and FamilyCare FamilyCare was ruled unconstitutional 11 Blagojevich signed a bill in 2005 that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment housing public accommodations and credit Blagojevich originally campaigned against pork barrel spending but eventually used it himself to gain more votes for bills 11 Soon after taking office in 2003 Blagojevich continued support of a moratorium on executions of death row inmates even though no such executions are likely to occur for years his predecessor George Ryan commuted all of the death sentences in the state shortly before leaving office in 2003 43 This support continued through his administration 44 Another notable action of his term was a strict new ethics law When campaigning for re election in 2006 Blagojevich said that if his ethics law had existed when former governor George Ryan had been in office Ryan s corruption might not have occurred 42 Blagojevich also signed a comprehensive death penalty reform bill that was written by then Senator Barack Obama and the late U S Senator Paul M Simon Organized labor and African Americans were Blagojevich s staunchest political supporters 34 In 2008 he told a group of African Americans that he sometimes considered himself the first African American governor of Illinois 45 Education edit Blagojevich oversaw record increases in funding for education every year without raising general sales or income taxes He was criticized by Republicans and many moderate Democrats for using funds from the state pension system in order to fund other spending 20 Another early 2006 proposal included PreSchool for All for all three and four year old children in Illinois Legislation authorizing the program was adopted as part of the fiscal year 2007 budget 46 Proposed capital programs edit On January 10 2006 Blagojevich announced a proposal for a new 3 billion US spending plan for Illinois roads mass transit and schools to be paid for by increased tax revenue and new gambling proposals such as Keno and lottery games 47 The proposal met with immediate opposition by members of the Republican Party of Illinois and many Democrats who viewed it as an election year ploy The suggestion to legalize Keno within Illinois was later withdrawn 48 As of 2008 Blagojevich had been unable for five years to agree to a capital plan that would improve Illinois infrastructure 20 In March 2008 Blagojevich announced a bipartisan coalition chaired by former U S Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Former U S Congressman Glenn Poshard to develop a capital construction plan that could pass the Illinois General Assembly The Illinois Works Coalition toured the state and developed a compromise 34 billion package that relied on a lease of the Illinois Lottery road funds and expanded gambling for funding 49 The plan passed the Senate but stalled in the Illinois House with opposition from Democrats 34 Special sessions edit Blagojevich called the Illinois General Assembly into special session 36 times while in office which is half of the total number of special sessions called since 1970 20 The sessions were blamed for disrupting lawmakers time off while Blagojevich himself did not attend the sessions 39 Relationships with lawmakers edit Blagojevich disagreed with many state Democrats while in office with House and Senate Republican leaders Frank Watson and Tom Cross often refereeing among the Democrats 20 During 2008 Blagojevich even expressed fear that House Democrats would gain more seats and he would face more opposition 50 Blagojevich s lieutenant governor was Pat Quinn Quinn and Blagojevich publicly disagreed over 20 Blagojevich s proposed Gross Receipts Tax to increase revenue for schools and other projects within Illinois 51 Quinn said in December 2008 that he had last spoken to Blagojevich in the summer of 2007 52 Blagojevich also feuded with Attorney General Lisa Madigan Comptroller Dan Hynes Secretary of State Jesse White and state treasurer Alexi Giannoulias all of whom are Democrats 20 Blagojevich was often at odds with members of both parties in the state legislature Democratic legislator Jack Franks said that the reason Blagojevich had problems passing laws with the cooperation of the General Assembly is that he did not spend enough time with the legislature That s a real reason he has such poor relations with the Legislature and can t get any of his agenda passed because he doesn t talk to anybody 53 When lawmakers working on a budget during a special session met at 10 am rather than 2 pm and Blagojevich s attorney threatened that the Governor was considering legal action against the involved representatives Democratic Rep Joe Lyons told reporters We have a madman The man is insane 54 nbsp Quincy mayor John Spring appears at a press conference with Blagojevich to discuss Mississippi River flood relief efforts in 2008 Although Barack Obama served as an adviser to Blagojevich s 2002 gubernatorial campaign by all accounts Blagojevich and Obama have been estranged for years 28 52 55 Blagojevich did not endorse Obama in the 2004 United States Senate race and Obama did not invite Blagojevich to speak at the 2008 Democratic National Convention as he did Lisa Madigan Hynes and Giannoulias 28 Blagojevich has had a friendly rapport with the man who took over his congressional seat Rahm Emanuel 56 Blagojevich has also disagreed publicly with then Democratic Chicago Mayor Richard M Daley after their dispute over Chicago Transit Authority funding Daley called Blagojevich cuckoo and said he did not want to argue with the Governor since He s arguing with everybody in America 57 Blagojevich replied I don t think I m cuckoo 57 Soon after a meeting of 2007 with Democratic State Senator Mike Jacobs meant to convince Jacobs to vote for Blagojevich s health insurance proposals Jacobs emerged telling reporters that the Governor blew up at him like a 10 year old child Blagojevich would not comment on the alleged incident 54 Jacobs said during 2008 This is a governor who I don t think has a single ally except for Senate president Emil Jones and that s tenuous at best Jones and Blagojevich sometimes collaborated while at other times they disagreed on funding for education 20 During a 2008 Congressional race pitting Democratic state senator Debbie Halvorson against Republican Marty Ozinga the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee ran television advertisements attempting to help Halvorson by linking Republican Ozinga to Blagojevich asserting that Ozinga had given campaign donations to the Democratic governor 58 The Daily Show appearances edit During early February 2006 Blagojevich appeared on The Daily Show to discuss the governor s executive order that pharmacists must dispense any drugs for which a customer had a valid prescription including birth control pills and Plan B This measure was being challenged on the show by state legislator Ron Stephens from Greenville Illinois Blagojevich was interviewed by Jason Jones who repeatedly pretended to be unable to pronounce Blagojevich s name and simply called him Governor Smith At one point in the interview Jones who was acting as if he were against the governor s order told him I ll be in charge of what my listeners hear This prompted Blagojevich to turn to the camera and ask Is he teasing me or is that legit Two weeks after the interview Blagojevich said that he was unaware of the nature of the show 59 60 Stephens said he knew beforehand that the show was a comedy show I thought the governor was hip enough that he would have known that too 59 Stephens later said With all due respect to the governor he knew it was a comedy show It s general knowledge for people under 90 years of age It was when he came off looking so silly that he said he thought it was a regular news program Even assuming he didn t know about it beforehand we had to sign a release before the interview 61 Blagojevich made another appearance on The Daily Show on August 23 2010 after his removal from office During his time on the show he vehemently defended himself against host Jon Stewart s critique of things that he had previously said on the show Stewart focused on how Blagojevich had expressed a great desire to tell his side in court but then did not Stewart attempted to get a promise that next time Blagojevich would testify Stewart also focused on Blagojevich s previous statement to him that if one heard the famous effing golden statement in context it would be seen as innocent Stewart played the additional recording and asked him how that sounded any different The former governor had no concrete answers 62 Political positions editState spending edit Blagojevich was criticized for using what his opponents called gimmicks to balance the state budget Republicans claimed that he was simply passing the state s fiscal problems on to future generations by borrowing his way to balanced budgets Indeed the 2005 state budget called for paying the bills by underfunding a state employees pension fund by 1 2 billion 20 63 During 2008 Blagojevich proposed issuing 16 billion in new bonds for the state to meet pension fund requirements 64 Blagojevich once told a gathering of black ministers on Chicago s South Side that he was on the side of our Lord with his budget proposals 51 Blagojevich proposed a budget for 2008 with a 5 increase from the year before 64 Budget reductions of some programs caused Blagojevich to attempt to close 11 state parks and 13 state historic sites with his spokesman saying Blagojevich had never visited any of them 2 65 To plug state budget holes Blagojevich at one point proposed selling the James R Thompson Center or mortgaging it Blagojevich was also criticized for his handling of the 2007 state budget In particular critics cited his unprecedented use of line item and reduction vetoes to remove his political opponents member initiatives from the budget bill 66 3 67 During 2003 more than 1 000 Illinois judges began a class action lawsuit against Blagojevich because Blagojevich had stopped constitutionally required cost of living pay increases for the judges due to budget reductions 68 The case was settled in the judges favor in 2005 with Blagojevich s veto ruled as violating the state s constitution 68 Health care edit nbsp Blagojevich with then Congressman Rahm Emanuel D Chicago advocating for changes in Medicare legislation During a suspected shortage of the flu vaccine in 2004 Blagojevich ordered 260 000 doses from overseas distributors which the Food and Drug Administration had warned would be barred from entering the United States 69 Although the vaccine doses had cost the state 2 6 million the FDA refused to allow them into the country and a buyer could not be found they were donated to earthquake survivors in Pakistan a year later 69 However the lots had expired and Pakistan destroyed the vaccines 70 Also in 2004 Blagojevich s plans to set up a website for Illinois residents to import medication from Canada and the United Kingdom was blocked by the U S Food and Drug Administration Imported medication would have saved users of the service 25 to 50 percent over domestic drugs 71 Blagojevich issued an executive order during 2004 requiring pharmacists in the state to dispense morning after birth control even if they object on moral or religious grounds This order was legally challenged 72 Later in 2007 opponents of the governor s executive order reached a settlement with the state in one case causing partial removal of the order The settlement which followed the Illinois Supreme Court s decision in September 2007 to hear an appeal of a lawsuit challenging the executive order allowed pharmacists to decline to dispense birth control so long as they provided information to customers about pharmacists who did 73 In another case Morr Fitz v Blagojevich later Morr Fitz v Quinn the Illinois Court of Appeals ruled against Blagojevich s order 74 During October 2005 Blagojevich announced All Kids his plan to provide access to state subsidized healthcare for every child in Illinois 75 Signed into law by Blagojevich in November 2005 All Kids made Illinois the first state in the U S to attempt to legally require itself to provide universal affordable and comprehensive healthcare for children regardless of income and immigration status 76 During March 2007 Blagojevich announced and campaigned for his universal healthcare plan Illinois Covered 77 The plan was debated in the Illinois State Senate but came one vote short of passing 78 He proposed to pay for the plan with the largest tax increase in Illinois history 20 54 He proposed a gross receipts tax on businesses a 7 6 billion tax increase with proceeds earmarked to provide universal healthcare in Illinois increase education spending by 1 5 billion fund a 25 billion capital construction plan and reduce the State s 40 billion pension debt Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called for a vote on a non binding resolution on whether the state should impose a gross receipts tax When it became apparent that the resolution would be defeated Blagojevich announced at the last minute that supporters should vote against it although the vote was intended to be a test vote to gauge whether the measure had any support 79 The request was seen by many lawmakers from both parties as an attempt to spin the loss positively 79 It was defeated by a vote of 107 0 79 80 which the Associated Press termed jaw dropping 54 When asked about the vote of the day Blagojevich said Today I think was basically an up I feel good about it 33 Blagojevich also successfully proposed a new tax on businesses that do not provide health insurance to their employees 64 Lawmakers did not approve another initiative of Blagojevich s FamilyCare which would provide healthcare for families of four making up to 82 000 but Blagojevich attempted to implement the plan unilaterally by executive order 81 In rejecting Blagojevich s executive order a legislative committee questioned how the state would pay for the program 82 Blagojevich s decision has been called unconstitutional by two courts which nullified the plan However during October 2008 pharmacies which had followed Blagojevich s directive to dispense drugs under the plan were informed by his administration that they would not be reimbursed and would have payments given under the system deducted from future Medicaid payments 83 One state lawmaker Republican Ron Stephens suggested that Blagojevich should pay the difference out of his own personal account 83 The Pantagraph agreed with Stephens in an editorial 84 Associated Press attempted under the Freedom of Information Act to discover how the state planned to pay for the Blagojevich ordered program how many people were enrolled or how much the care had cost the state but were refused the information by state departments 85 Business edit After Blagojevich pushed for a law banning sales of certain video games to minors a federal judge declared the law violated the First Amendment with the state ordered to pay 520 000 in legal fees 86 nbsp Blagojevich greets students at Illinois State University in 2006Blagojevich vetoed three bills 87 88 89 that would permit trucks to drive 65 mph outside the Chicago area instead of the current 55 mph stating that one bill compromises safety 90 Blagojevich threatened to stop the state s dealings with Bank of America Corp over a shut down factory in Chicago On December 8 2008 all state agencies were ordered to stop conducting business with Bank of America to pressure the company to make the loans Blagojevich said the biggest U S retail bank would not get any more state business unless it restored credit to Republic Windows and Doors whose workers were staging a sit in John Douglas a former general counsel for the FDIC and attorney for Bank of America called Blagojevich s gambit dangerous 91 92 Gun control edit Blagojevich has been described as a staunch supporter of gun control 93 During his February 2006 State of the State address Blagojevich said the state should ban semi automatic firearms As a state legislator Blagojevich proposed raising the price of an Illinois Firearm Owners Identification FOID card from 5 to 500 Blagojevich vetoed three gun bills in 2005 which would have Deleted records in gun database after 90 days Eliminated the waiting period for someone wanting to buy a rifle or shotgun when trading in a previously owned weapon Overridden local laws regulating transport of firearms 94 Oprah Winfrey edit In early 2009 Blagojevich reported being so impressed by Oprah Winfrey s influence on the election of Barack Obama that he considered offering Obama s vacant Senate seat to Winfrey Blagojevich summarized his reasons for considering Winfrey on various talk shows To begin with she was perhaps the most instrumental person in electing Barack Obama president She is a larger than life figure in America and around the world She has a huge bully pulpit and tremendous support across America She has a voice larger than all 100 senators combined And if she was a U S Senator she would be a voice for the Obama program which she supports and she would be in a position to be able to use an unbelievable bully pulpit to be able to get it done She obviously can t be bought And she s actually a very obviously in my judgment a very impressive and a very nice person 95 On the other hand how likely is it she d give up what she s doing for that I mean being a senator s a big deal but it ain t Oprah 96 Winfrey noted that although she was uninterested she did feel she could be a senator 97 Political analyst Chris Matthews praised Blagojevich s idea of making Winfrey a senator suggesting that in one move it would diversify the Senate and raise its collective IQ Elaborating further he said Anybody who doesn t think Winfrey would be a great senator from Illinois or anywhere is crazy She gets along with everybody She brings people together She finds common ground She s way past race politics 20 years ago She s so far ahead of most people in human relations And she listens I think she is up there with Will Rogers and Bob Hope and some of our great public personalities of the last century Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times agreed with Matthews writing Winfrey would be terrific and an enormously popular pick 98 Personal style editBlagojevich was famed for his flamboyant dress style such as his taste for Charvet ties 99 100 After the Justice Department complaint was made public Blagojevich s hairstyle became the subject of discussion and jokes for national and local media personalities Blagojevich insisted his aides always carry a hairbrush for him He referred to it as the football alluding to the term nuclear football which represents the bomb launch codes never to be out of reach of the president 38 Impeachment removal from office trial editMain article Rod Blagojevich corruption charges nbsp U S Marshals photo of Blagojevich on the day of his arrest source source source source source source Governor Arrested for Bribery video news report about Blagojevich from Voice of America December 10 2008Blagojevich threatened to stop the state s dealings with Bank of America Corp over a shut down factory in Chicago This caused U S Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald 101 to direct Blagojevich s arrest at his home by federal agents on December 9 2008 and charge him with corruption The Justice Department complaint alleged that the governor conspired to commit several pay to play schemes including attempting to obtain personal gain through the corrupt use of his authority to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama following his election as president claiming that in wiretapped recordings Blagojevich discussed his desire to get something in exchange for an appointment to the seat After various outreach efforts he appointed former state attorney general Roland Burris on New Year s Eve 2008 Burris was seated after some initial opposition in mid January 2009 102 A trial was set for June 3 2010 103 and U S Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald spoke out on the charges 104 characterizing Blagojevich s actions as trying to auction the open seat off to the highest bidder The Illinois House and Senate moved quickly to impeach the governor for abuse of power and corruption On January 8 the Illinois House voted 114 1 with three abstentions to impeach Blagojevich 105 106 The charges brought by the House emphasized Blagojevich s alleged abuses of power and his alleged attempts to sell legislative authorizations and or vetoes and gubernatorial appointments including that of Obama s vacated Senate seat Blagojevich was taped by the FBI saying I ve got this thing and it s fucking golden I m just not giving it up for fucking nothing 107 On January 27 2009 Blagojevich began a media campaign planned by publicist Glenn Selig During the two day campaign he visited Today Good Morning America The Early Show The View multiple programs on Fox News Channel CNN and MSNBC where he proclaimed his innocence and insisted he would be vindicated On January 29 2009 Blagojevich was removed from office and prohibited from ever holding public office in the state of Illinois again by two separate and unanimous votes of 59 0 by the Illinois Senate His lieutenant governor Patrick Quinn subsequently became governor of Illinois 108 Blagojevich s impeachment trial and removal from office did not affect his federal indictment in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois since impeachment is a political as opposed to a criminal sanction in addition to being in this particular case a punishment imposed at the state level 109 Post removal activities edit After being convicted and removed from office by the Illinois Senate Blagojevich went on Late Show with David Letterman and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart where he re affirmed his innocence and stated that the Illinois legislature s decision to remove him from office was politically motivated being due to his unwillingness to raise taxes He has accused his successor Pat Quinn of using state funds excessively for personal leisure A report later released by the Governor s office showed that most of Quinn s transportation fees were paid for by Quinn himself and that Quinn never accepted the 32 meal allowance from the State 110 Blagojevich attempted to make a deal to star in NBC s 2009 summer reality show I m a Celebrity Get Me out of Here He made a request with the judge to ease his travel restrictions so that he could travel to Costa Rica to star in the show saying that his family needed to make money However his request was formally rejected by U S District Judge James B Zagel who was sympathetic to Blagojevich s financial situation but nevertheless stated I don t think this defendant fully understands and I don t think he could understand the position he finds himself in Judge Zagel went on further to note that Blagojevich must prepare for his defense 111 Despite the ruling NBC expressed an interest in negotiating with the judge to have Blagojevich as a part of the show His wife took his place on the show which began airing June 1 2009 112 113 He told an interviewer he found it difficult to watch his wife eat a dead tarantula on the broadcast but remarked that her willingness to participate in the show was an act of love because she was earning funds to alleviate their adverse financial position 114 On June 13 2009 Blagojevich starred in the improv group The Second City s musical Rod Blagojevich Superstar He performed in order to support the charity Gilda s Club Chicago which offers support for people living with cancer 115 On June 30 2009 Blagojevich s autobiography The Governor The Truth Behind the Political Scandal That Continues to Rock the Nation 116 was announced for print release on September 8 2009 117 The book was also released by Amazon com for sale as an eBook on the Kindle on the same day as the announcement 118 On July 19 2009 Blagojevich began hosting a two hour weekly radio talk show on 890 WLS which aired mid day Sundays 119 120 He had previously been a guest host of the Don Wade and Roma Morning Show on WLS in March 2009 119 121 On June 2 2010 WLS placed Blagojevich s radio show on hiatus while his corruption trial was ongoing 122 Blagojevich appeared on season 9 of The Celebrity Apprentice in Spring 2010 asserting that he has the skill and know how to get things accomplished on the series Series star and producer Donald Trump praised Blagojevich s tremendous courage and guts and predicted that he would become one of the show s breakout stars 123 Trump subsequently fired Blagojevich in the fourth episode of the season which aired April 4 2010 124 In an interview with Esquire in January 2010 Blagojevich said about President Obama Everything he s saying s on the teleprompter I m blacker than Barack Obama I shined shoes I grew up in a five room apartment My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where he lived I saw it all growing up He soon backpedaled from the term blacker than saying that he had chosen his words poorly but he stood by his message that the frustration is real and the frustration is still today average ordinary people aren t getting a fair shake 125 Blagojevich made an appearance at the Wizard World Chicago comic convention in August 2010 conversing with and taking pictures with attendees He charged 50 for an autograph and 80 for a photo He also had a humorous televised meeting with Adam West Blagojevich remarked that he considered The Joker to be the best Batman foil Comic fandom website Bleeding Cool reported that Blagojevich had met with a mostly positive reception while Time Out Chicago described it as mixed 126 127 Federal trial and conviction edit nbsp FCI Englewood where Blagojevich was locatedBlagojevich was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2009 128 Most of the charges were related to attempts to sell the Senate seat vacated by then President elect Barack Obama 129 On August 17 2010 he was convicted on one of the 24 federal charges a charge of lying to the FBI and the jury was hung on 23 other counts 109 The defense did not call a single witness claiming that prosecutors did not prove their case Because the jury could not agree on the remaining charges a mistrial was ordered for those counts Within 15 minutes after the mistrial was declared the prosecution team announced that they would definitely pursue a retrial on the 23 mistrial counts A post verdict court date was set for August 23 2010 Federal prosecutors reduced the number of counts for Blagojevich s retrial and on June 27 2011 he was found guilty of 17 of the 20 remaining charges and not guilty on one and no verdict was rendered by the jury on two counts 130 He was found guilty on all charges pertaining to the Senate seat as well as extortion relating to state funds being directed towards a children s hospital and race track However he was acquitted on a charge pertaining to the tollway extortion and avoided a guilty verdict by split decision on attempting to extort Rahm Emanuel 131 132 133 nbsp Blagojevich waves as he leaves his house to begin serving his sentenceHe reported to prison on March 15 2012 at Federal Correctional Institution Englewood Colorado 134 His Federal Bureau of Prisons BOP number was 40892 424 135 Had his sentence not been commuted by President Donald Trump under federal rules Blagojevich would have served at least 85 136 or 12 years of his sentence after which time he may have been eligible for early release in March 2024 based on good behavior However President Trump commuted his sentence so he was released on February 18 2020 137 While in the federal penitentiary Blagojevich was the lead singer for prison band called The Jailhouse Rockers named after an Elvis Presley song The band dissolved when the lead guitarist was released 138 He was the fourth Illinois governor to serve time in federal prison after Otto Kerner Jr Dan Walker Post governorship criminal activity and George Ryan Crimes starting during his prior service as Secretary of State 139 Appeal edit Blagojevich appealed his conviction claiming judicial bias and a tainted jury pool He has also long contended that there was critical evidence the jury never heard including witness testimony and recorded phone calls that Judge Zagel did not allow to be played during the trial They have also argued that Blagojevich s own testimony was restricted by Judge Zagel s rulings 140 In July 2013 Blagojevich filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago challenging the corruption conviction and the length of his prison term 141 A three judge panel of the Seventh Circuit heard arguments in the case in December 2013 In July 2015 the court unanimously vacated five of the corruption convictions including his convictions for attempting to sell Barack Obama s vacant U S Senate seat after he was elected president but affirmed the rest The court s decision remanded to the district court 142 The Seventh Circuit denied Blagojevich s request for rehearing en banc 143 and in March 2016 the Supreme Court of the United States denied Blagojevich s petition for a writ of certiorari 144 In August 2016 a resentencing hearing was held in the district court Judge Zagel re imposed the same 14 year sentence he had imposed in 2011 Zagel acknowledged the suffering of Blagojevich s family and Blagojevich s good conduct in prison but found that Blagojevich s corrupt conduct still warranted a 14 year sentence 145 Blagojevich s attorneys appealed to the 7th Circuit but failed then filed another appeal with the U S Supreme Court on November 3 2017 146 Meanwhile unrepentant Blagojevich continued to fight his conviction and sentence in the media 147 148 149 His wife Patti joined him in attracting press attention to his cause and criticism of the federal judiciary 150 On April 16 2018 the U S Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal the second time in two years 151 Commutation edit President Donald Trump hours after having pardoned commentator Dinesh D Souza told reporters on May 31 2018 that he was considering commuting Blagojevich s sentence without pardoning him as well as pardoning Martha Stewart Trump called Blagojevich s sentence unfair saying that Blagojevich s statements about enriching himself were stupid but also the sort of thing that many other politicians say 152 Blagojevich filed a petition officially asking President Trump for commutation of sentence on June 5 2018 153 In August 2019 Trump commented to reporters that he was very strongly considering issuing a commutation 154 source source source source source source source source track President Donald Trump speaks about commuting Blagojevich on February 18 2020 Video from White House On February 18 2020 President Trump commuted Blagojevich s 14 year corruption sentence wiping away the sentence but not the conviction 4 I don t know him very well I ve met him a couple of times he was on for a short time on The Apprentice years ago seemed like a very nice person don t know him but he served eight years in jail there s a long time to go Trump said to reporters 155 Some news sources noted that in addition to The Apprentice connection Trump and his organization had made contributions to Blagojevich s political campaigns including his 2002 gubernatorial campaign 156 Blagojevich was released from prison that day and flew home to Chicago that night Speaking to reporters after his release he stated I m profoundly grateful to President Trump and I will be for as long as I live He said Trump was a man who s not only tough and outspoken strong but he has a kind heart and proclaimed himself to be a Trump ocrat 157 On February 19 Blagojevich held a press conference at his home in Chicago s Ravenswood neighborhood where he remained defiant towards his conviction describing himself as a political prisoner and promised to use his experience in prison to fix the broken criminal justice system 158 159 160 Illinois House GOP leader Jim Durkin criticized the President s decision to commute Blagojevich s sentence stating that Blagojevich was rogue on steroids when he abused the office and that Trump was not concerned about the people of Illinois in November 161 The commutation was satirized by Chicago based The Wieners Circle 162 Following the commutation the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission found that Blagojevich had engaged in a pattern of dishonest and deceptive conduct and recommended his disbarment to the Illinois Supreme Court 163 On May 18 2020 the Supreme Court of Illinois officially disbarred him 164 In August of the same year it was announced that Blagojevich would be the featured speaker at a fundraising event to benefit Republican state senate candidate Tom McCullagh The candidate s campaign stated that McCullagh is welcoming Blagojevich to the table to give us an inside look to help understand the depths of the Madigan machine and how to end corruption in Illinois 165 Post political career editIn May 2020 Blagojevich launched a politics themed podcast titled The Lightning Rod on WLS AM 890 166 The podcast ran through September 2021 167 Electoral history editHouse of Representatives edit See also Illinois 5th congressional district 1996 Rod Blagojevich Democratic 64 Michael Flanagan inc Republican 36 1998 Rod Blagojevich inc Democratic 74 Alan Spitz Republican 24 2000 Rod Blagojevich inc Democratic 87 Matt Beauchamp Libertarian 13 Gubernatorial elections edit 2002 gubernatorial election Illinois Rod Blagojevich Democratic 1 818 823 52 0 Jim Ryan Republican 1 582 604 45 2 Cal Skinner Libertarian 73 404 2 1 Marisellis Brown Independent 22 803 0 7 2006 gubernatorial election Illinois Rod Blagojevich inc Democratic 1 736 219 49 8 Judy Baar Topinka Republican 1 368 682 39 3 Rich Whitney Green 361 163 10 4 citation needed Other Write ins 1 587 0 0 References edit List of Blagojevich convictions max sentences a b Long Ray September 18 2008 Blago has never visited a state park Associated Press Archived from the original on December 1 2008 a b Miller Rich August 27 2007 Blago issues most political budget veto in history Daily Southtown Retrieved September 21 2007 dead link a b Baker Peter Haberman Maggie February 18 2020 Trump Commutes Corruption Sentence of Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved February 18 2020 Sweet Lynn Seidel Jon Sneed Michael February 18 2020 Trump commutes prison sentence of disgraced ex Gov Rod Blagojevich Chicago Sun Times U S District Judge James Zagel gave Blagojevich 14 years putting him on track for release in March 2024 Federal Bureau of Investigation Chicago Field Division Press Release Department of Justice chicago fbi gov September 24 2010 Archived from the original on September 24 2010 Retrieved May 29 2021 Rod Blagojevich Biography Biography com A amp E Networks Archived from the original on August 5 2014 Retrieved August 4 2014 Gradel Thomas J Simpson Dick February 15 2015 Corrupt Illinois Patronage Cronyism and Criminality University of Illinois Press ISBN 9780252097034 via Google Books a b c Copley News Service Three Democrats battle for party s nomination for governor March 9 2002 Hercegovac pokusao prodati Obaminu senatorsku funkciju SAN Dnevne Novine in Bosnian Retrieved January 9 2009 a b c d Long Ray Parsons Christi October 25 2006 Pulling No Punches Chicago Tribune Retrieved November 1 2014 Burris Defends His Evolving Description of Talks by Monica Davey The New York Times February 16 2009 p A9 NY edition Retrieved 2 15 09 Blog entry by Josh Goodman of Governing magazine So it s Milorad is it Chicago Tribune August 3 2010 Goldman Russell December 11 2008 Blagojevich s Past Paved With Allegations ABC News Retrieved December 11 2008 Profile on the website Archived June 15 2007 at the Wayback Machine of biographer Carol Felsenthal Felsenthal Carol November 1 2003 Governor Sunshine Chicago Magazine Retrieved April 20 2015 Blagojevich defends Reagan votes Beloit Daily News Associated Press June 12 2004 Archived from the original on April 21 2015 Retrieved April 20 2014 Rod Blagojevich IMDb a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Bernstein David February 2008 Mr Un Popularity Chicago Magazine Archived from the original on October 1 2017 Retrieved November 14 2013 Governor Elect Rod Blagojevich Cheesecake reprinted from campaign website Rodforus com IADDA org Retrieved December 10 2008 Tomma Stephen May 8 2005 Blagojevich for president Northwest Indiana and Illinois Times Retrieved November 9 2008 unknown Herald and Review November 4 1992 p 5 via Newspapers com a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a Cite uses generic title help Babwin Don December 10 2008 Arrest of Ill governor puts spotlight on his wife The Seattle Times Associated Press Retrieved October 19 2010 Illinois Blue Book 1995 1996 Biographical Sketch of Rod R Blagojevech pg 82 Final Vote Results for Roll Call 455 House Joint Resolution 114 October 10 2002 2002 Gubernatorial Democratic Primary Election Results Illinois Uselectionatlas org Retrieved June 4 2010 a b c Saskow Eli December 12 2008 Obama Worked to Distance Self From Blagojevich Early On The Washington Post Retrieved December 14 2008 a b c d e Tapper Jake December 9 2008 Questions Arise About the Obama Blagojevich Relationship ABC News Retrieved December 9 2008 a b Saulny Susan December 10 2008 A Portrait of a Politician Vengeful and Profane The New York Times Retrieved December 10 2008 a b c Lin Joanna December 10 2008 Blagojevich ran on an anti corruption platform Los Angeles Times Retrieved December 10 2008 Results of SurveyUSA News Poll 6930 Surveyusa com Retrieved June 4 2010 a b Removing a governor Chicago Tribune October 28 2007 Retrieved November 8 2008 a b c Pearson Rick Long Ray August 6 2008 Blagojevich calls special session for next week Chicago Tribune Retrieved November 7 2008 a b c Cillizza Chris December 10 2008 A Tale of Two Ads The Washington Post The Fix blog Retrieved December 10 2008 Darin Jack November 4 2006 Thinking of Going Green on Tuesday Think Again Illinois Sierra Club blog Retrieved December 11 2008 Hawthorne Michael October 30 2006 Ecology questions crop up in race for governor Chicago Tribune Retrieved December 11 2008 a b Davey Monica December 14 2008 Two Sides of a Troubled Governor Sinking Deeper The New York Times a b Wills Christopher December 14 2008 Ill governor Eager for battle rarely victorious Associated Press Riopell Mike December 10 2008 History repeats itself Blagojevich not the first Gov to be charged while in office Bloomington Pantagraph Archived from the original on February 5 2009 Retrieved December 10 2008 Chase John Mendell David October 30 2006 Wielding a bully wallet Blagojevich uses incumbency to spread wealth to potential voters Chicago Tribune Retrieved December 11 2008 a b Pearson Rick September 8 2006 Blagojevich denounces critics as scoundrels Chicago Tribune Retrieved December 11 2008 Outline of Death Penalty Archived October 9 2006 at the Wayback Machine moratorium and reform in Illinois Reprint of Archived October 10 2006 at the Wayback Machine Chicago Defender at the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty website Carlos Hernandez Gomez August 15 2008 Blagojevich a Brutha Chicagoland TV Archived from the original on January 19 2013 Retrieved November 10 2008 Website for Early Learning Illinois Chicago Tribune article on Keno proposals Chicago Tribune Retrieved June 4 2010 permanent dead link Chicago Tribune permanent dead link article on the withdrawal of the Keno proposal Illinois Works Coalition Update 09 03 08 Archived from the original on October 14 2008 Miller Rich November 4 2008 Blagojevich helps constitutional convention call with his vote no comments Southtown Star Retrieved November 10 2008 dead link a b McKinney Dave March 22 2007 Lieutenant gov breaks ranks on gross receipts tax Chicago Sun Times Archived from the original on March 28 2007 Retrieved November 7 2008 a b Davey Monica Healy Jack December 9 2008 Illinois Governor Charged in Scheme to Sell Obama s Seat The New York Times Retrieved December 10 2008 Eight trips 76 000 Dan Rutherford official campaign site Associated Press June 21 2007 a b c d Wills Christopher July 10 2007 Illinois Democrats turn on each other USA Today Associated Press Retrieved November 7 2008 Shear Michael D Cillizza Chris December 10 2008 Obama Tries to Stay Above the Hometown Fray The Washington Post Retrieved December 10 2008 Blackledge Brett J Webber Tammy December 20 2008 Senate for sale case threatens new chief of staff Associated Press Retrieved December 20 2008 a b Garcia Monique September 15 2008 Blagojevich I don t think I m cuckoo Chicago Tribune Retrieved November 8 2008 Exploiting the Rod curse Chicago Tribune October 28 2008 Retrieved November 8 2008 a b Davis Eric February 23 2006 Ill governor confused by Daily Show bit USA Today Associated Press Retrieved July 17 2007 Pill of Rights The Daily Show February 9 2006 Froemling Todd March 2 2006 Blagojevich drops ball on The Daily Show Daily Vidette Retrieved July 17 2007 Time CNN Rod Blagojevich and Jon Stewart Interview 1 The Daily Show Interview New Illinois law affects SURS retirement benefits News uiuc edu Archived from the original on October 12 2008 Retrieved June 4 2010 a b c Long Ray Meitrodt Jeffrey February 21 2005 Blagojevich budget speech combination of deja vu new tax breaks Chicago Tribune Retrieved November 7 2008 Erickson Kurt September 20 2008 Kurt Erickson For Blagojevich red tape may actually be a good thing Southern Illinoisan Retrieved November 8 2008 Long Ray August 23 2007 Governor picks and chooses Chicago Tribune Retrieved September 21 2007 permanent dead link Statewide Budget Veto Hearing Release PDF Press release Illinois House of Representatives September 6 2007 Archived from the original PDF on March 25 2009 Retrieved December 9 2009 a b Judges settle pay increase lawsuit Daily Vidette January 26 2005 Archived from the original on February 12 2009 Retrieved November 8 2008 a b Rackl Lori December 31 2005 Illinois flu vaccine finally delivered to Pakistan Gov s order from Britain last year barred by FDA so state donates it Chicago Sun Times Archived from the original on October 25 2012 Retrieved November 9 2008 Einhorn Catrin December 18 2008 Illinois Inquiry Goes Beyond Criminal Complaint The New York Times Retrieved December 19 2008 Davy Monica August 17 2004 Illinois to Help Residents Buy Drugs From Canada and Afar The New York Times Plan B Walgreens pharmacist flap dissected UPI February 1 2006 Retrieved December 8 2011 Peres Judy October 11 2007 Morning after pill deal reached Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on October 13 2007 Retrieved January 7 2008 Morr Fitz Inc v Quinn 976 N E 2d 1160 Ill Ct App 2012 Keith Ryan October 24 2005 All Kids insurance to dominate veto session Northwest Indiana and Illinois Times Retrieved November 8 2008 All Kids program Allkids com Retrieved June 4 2010 State of Illinois Archived September 15 2008 at the Wayback Machine Illinois Covered Bill Status for Senate Bill 5 a b c Christopher Wills May 11 2007 House does more than thump Gov s gross receipts tax The Lincoln Courier Archived from the original on November 3 2007 Retrieved November 9 2008 Featured Article Opinion Journal May 14 2007 Retrieved January 31 2009 Ill gov can get new lawyers for health plan case Chicago Tribune October 24 2008 Archived from the original on February 3 2009 Retrieved November 7 2008 Illinois Legislative Committee Rejects Gov Blagojevich s FamilyCare Expansion Kaiser Foundation February 28 2008 Archived from the original on June 4 2009 Retrieved November 7 2008 a b O Connor John October 7 2008 Illinois pharmacists pay for Blagojevich s bungling The Pantagraph Archived from the original on February 5 2009 Retrieved November 7 2008 Blagojevich should get the bill The Pantagraph October 13 2008 Retrieved November 10 2008 O Connor John October 23 2008 Blagojevich mum on FamilyCare health program Associated Press Archived from the original on October 25 2008 Retrieved November 7 2008 Illinois agrees to pay fees in video game industry suit Northwest Indiana and Illinois Times December 21 2006 Retrieved November 8 2008 Legislative history of HB1743 November 16 2003 Retrieved January 23 2009 vetoed 2003 07 28 Legislative history of SB2374 November 20 2004 Retrieved January 23 2009 vetoed 2004 08 12 Legislative history of SB0540 October 19 2007 Retrieved January 23 2009 vetoed 2007 08 20 Gov Rod Blagojevich August 20 2007 Veto of SB0540 Retrieved January 23 2009 Illinois Threat to Bank of America Is Dangerous Critics Say Bloomberg December 9 2008 Retrieved December 12 2008 The Real Illinois scandal Pay to play this racket is worse by Joe Queenan The Washington Post p B01 Dec 14 2008 In Gun control Showdown Some Are Slow To Pull Trigger Chicago Tribune May 14 2000 Blagojevich vetoes series of proposed gun laws Arlington Heights Daily Herald August 2005 Archived from the original on September 24 2015 Retrieved November 14 2013 Part 2 of Gov Blagojevich on Glenn Beck Fox News January 29 2009 Archived from the original on February 7 2009 Retrieved January 31 2009 Gov Blagojevich I Know I ve Done Nothing Wrong Fox News January 27 2009 Archived from the original on January 31 2009 Retrieved January 31 2009 Oprah Absolutely Not Interested In Senate Seat WBBM 780 January 26 2009 Archived from the original on February 11 2009 Retrieved January 31 2009 Hardball with Chris Matthews for Monday January 26 NBC News January 26 2009 Retrieved January 31 2009 Zorn Eric May 31 2007 Gov Nocommentevich Chicago Tribune Retrieved October 19 2008 Donahue Wendy November 13 2005 Tie right PDF The Chicago Tribune Archived from the original PDF on August 27 2006 Retrieved November 22 2008 Alison Frankel All Articles December 11 2008 U S Attorneys Patrick Fitzgerald of Chicago and James Comey of Manhattan are both tough minded career prosecutors They re also best friends American Lawyer December 11 2008 Law com Retrieved December 8 2011 Illinois Gov Blagojevich chief of staff arrested Chicago Tribune December 9 2008 Fusco Chris June 25 2008 Judge sets Blagojevich trial date Chicago Sun Times Archived from the original on June 28 2009 Retrieved September 23 2009 Justice Department Briefing on Blagojevich Investigation The New York Times December 9 2008 Retrieved August 14 2009 Saulny Susan January 9 2009 Illinois House Impeaches Governor The New York Times Retrieved April 21 2009 Vote on House Resolution 1671 to impeach Gov Blagojevich Harris Paul August 18 2010 Rod Blagojevich guilty on just one count of 24 in corruption trial The Guardian London Chicago Tribune January 30 2009 Impeached Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich Has Been Removed From Office by Ray Long and Rick Pearson a b Chicago Tribune August 18 2010 p 1 Several panelists dissatisfied point to lack of smoking gun by Annie Sweeney Vikki Ortiz Healy and Noreen S Ahmed Uilah Ormsby David April 13 2009 Quinn Manages to be Frugal and Generous Simultaneously Davidormsby wordpress com Archived from the original on September 21 2009 Retrieved June 4 2010 Blagojevich Reality Show Judge Denies Permission To Travel To Costa Rica For Show The Huffington Post April 21 2009 Retrieved June 4 2010 NBC recruits Blagojevich for Celebrity The Live Feed April 15 2009 Blagojevich Eating spider on reality TV show was expression of love Barr Andy April 6 2009 Blagojevich Spider meal an act of love Politico Retrieved June 5 2009 Second City Blago Takes the Stage www secondcity com Archived August 15 2009 at the Wayback Machine Blagojevich Rod September 8 2009 The Governor The Truth Behind the Political Scandal That Continues to Rock the Nation Phoenix ISBN 978 1597776462 Blagojevich book due for release UPI July 30 2009 Retrieved July 30 2009 Ortiz Vikki July 30 2009 Rod Blagojevich s book Ousted governor s work due in September available on Amazon com Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on August 2 2009 Retrieved August 18 2009 a b Blagojevich to host talk radio show on 2 Sundays The Pantagraph Associated Press July 17 2009 Retrieved May 20 2017 Blagojevich talker continues on WLS AM Radio Television Business Report July 31 2009 Retrieved May 20 2017 Cox Ted March 25 2010 Rod Blagojevich media star 2 hour stint on WLS used to attack Quinn Daily Herald Arlington Heights Ill Retrieved May 20 2017 WLS radio shuts off Blago s mike Chicago Sun Times June 3 2010 Retrieved May 20 2017 Donald Trump predicts former gov Rod Blagojevich will be Celebrity Apprentice 3 s breakout star The New York Daily News January 5 2010 Retrieved January 16 2010 Episode 904 Recap NBC Universal April 5 2010 Archived from the original on March 23 2010 Retrieved April 5 2010 Winter Michael January 11 2010 Blagojevich backpedals for saying he s blacker than Obama USA Today Retrieved January 16 2010 Johnston Rich August 21 2010 Rod Blagojevich Meets Batman At Wizard World Chicago Comic Con VIDEO bleedingcool com Retrieved August 22 2010 Wizard World Chicago Comic Con Saturday Tales from the front lines Time Out Chicago August 22 2010 Archived from the original on August 25 2010 Retrieved August 22 2010 Superseding Indictment U S v Rod Blagojevich et al FindLaw April 2 2009 Retrieved April 2 2009 Associated The Jury convicts Blagojevich of attempting to sell Obama s senate seat Haaretz Daily Newspaper Israel News Haaretz Israel Retrieved December 8 2011 Belkin Douglas and Stephanie Banchero June 27 2011 Blagojevich Convicted on Corruption Charges The Wall Street Journal Retrieved June 28 2011 Davey Monica June 27 2011 Jury Finds Blagojevich Guilty of Corruption The New York Times Retrieved June 28 2011 Secter Bob Coen Jeff June 27 2011 Blagojevich convicted I frankly am stunned former governor says after jury convicts him on 17 counts Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on September 30 2012 Retrieved December 23 2020 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint unfit URL link Blagojevich sentenced to 14 years in prison Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on January 20 2012 Inside Blago s New Home CBS Inmate Locator Federal Bureau of Prisons Retrieved on June 9 2015 Type in the number or Rod and Blagojevich 18 U S Code 3624 Release of a prisoner Legal Information Institute Cornell Law School Retrieved December 9 2017 a prisoner may receive credit toward the service of the prisoner s sentence beyond the time served of up to 54 days at the end of each year of the prisoner s term of imprisonment beginning at the end of the first year of the term subject to determination by the Bureau of Prisons that during that year the prisoner has displayed exemplary compliance with institutional disciplinary regulations Note 54 days is 15 of a year Meisner Jason Pearson Rick February 18 2020 Rod Blagojevich released from prison after Trump commutes ex Illinois governor s 14 year sentence Chicago Tribune Retrieved February 19 2020 Schuba Tom Rogers Phil July 13 2016 Blagojevich Started Prison Band Called the Jailhouse Rockers WMAQ TV Retrieved February 18 2020 What s the matter with Illinois With Blagojevich conviction state has most imprisoned governors The Washington Post June 28 2011 Sweeney Annie December 9 2011 Blagojevich attorneys consider prison and appeal Chicago Tribune Tarm Michael Blagojevich appeals convictions stiff sentence Associated Press Retrieved July 16 2013 Rod Blagojevich convictions vacated on 5 counts Not eligible for release during re trial WLS TV July 21 2015 Jacob Meisner Blagojevich to appeal to Supreme Court after 7th Circuit denies rehearing Chicago Tribune August 19 2015 Meisner Jacob March 28 2016 U S Supreme Court denies Blagojevich appeal Patti incredibly disappointed Chicago Tribune Patrick M O Connell amp Jason Meisner Rod Blagojevich s 14 year prison sentence upheld family dumbfounded and flabbergasted Chicago Tribune August 9 2016 Tarm Michael Blagojevich again asks Supreme Court to hear his appeal Chicago Tribune Retrieved May 31 2018 NBC 5 Exclusive Blagojevich Breaks Silence From Prison WMAQ TV Retrieved May 31 2018 Coen Jeff Blagojevich unrepentant but bruised reflects on prison life Chicago Tribune Retrieved May 31 2018 EXCLUSIVE Blago His Life in Prison Chicago magazine Retrieved May 31 2018 Statements from Patti Blagojevich attorney on today s Rod Blagojevich appeal to U S Supreme Court Archived from the original on July 21 2018 Retrieved May 31 2018 via PR News Channel Supreme Court again refuses to hear Blagojevich appeal ABC News Retrieved April 16 2018 Diamond Jeremy May 31 2018 Trump floats Martha Stewart pardon Rod Blagojevich commutation CNN Tatum Sophie June 5 2018 Ex Gov Blagojevich officially asks Trump to commute his prison sentence CNN Retrieved February 11 2019 Samuels Brett August 7 2019 Trump says he s very strongly considering commuting Rod Blagojevich s sentence The Hill Retrieved August 8 2019 John Santucci Katherine Faulders Jordyn Phelps February 19 2020 Former Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich released after Trump commutes his sentence ABC News Blagojevich And Trump s Relationship Goes Back Years February 18 2020 Yin Alice Fry Paige February 19 2020 Autographs and no apologies as Rod Blagojevich returns home I didn t do the things they said I did They lied on me Chicago Tribune Watch Rod Blagojevich s first press conference after being freed early from prison by President Trump chicagotribune com February 19 2020 Hauck Nicholas Wu and Grace Defiant Rod Blagojevich calls himself a freed political prisoner after Trump commutes sentence USA TODAY Seidel Jon February 19 2020 Blagojevich calling himself freed political prisoner praises Trump vows to reform broken criminal justice system Chicago Sun Times Gstalter Morgan February 18 2020 GOP leader in Illinois statehouse slams Trump for commuting Blagojevich s sentence TheHill Chicago s Rudest Hot Dog Stand The Wiener s Circle Sends Message to Blagojevich NBC Chicago February 23 2020 Retrieved February 23 2020 Journal A B A Illinois disciplinary panel recommends Rod Blagojevich be disbarred ABA Journal Retrieved March 4 2020 Rod Blagojevich officially disbarred by Illinois Supreme Court WGN TV May 18 2020 Retrieved May 18 2020 Disgraced ex governor will headline intimate fundraiser to celebrate Trump s RNC acceptance speech Raw Story Aug 17 2020 accessed 2020 08 20 Donovan Lisa May 14 2020 Disgraced former Gov Rod Blagojevich signs podcast deal Chicago Tribune Retrieved May 15 2020 Lightning Rod with Rod Blagojevich www audacy com March 5 2021 Retrieved February 10 2023 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rod Blagojevich nbsp Wikinews has related news Rod Blagojevich nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Rod Blagojevich Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Financial information federal office at the Federal Election Commission Indictment U S v Blagojevich et al FindLaw Illinois Gov Rod R Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris Arrested on Federal Corruption Charges Department of Justice December 9 2008 press release United States District Court United States of America v Rod R Blagojevich and John Harris December 9 2008 copy of 76 page complaint text version People of the State of Illinois v Rod Blagojevich Governor of Illinois brief Motion for TRO Supporting Record TRO Gov Blagojevich Chicago Sun Times ongoing coverage Complete Blagojevich Coverage Chicago Tribune ongoing coverage United States of America v Rod Blagojevich Alonzo Monk John Harris and Robert Blagojevich Second Superseding Indictment United States of America v Rod Blagojevich Alonzo Monk John Harris and Robert Blagojevich Appearances on C SPANIllinois House of RepresentativesPreceded byMyron Kulas Member of the Illinois House of Representativesfrom the 33rd district1993 1997 Succeeded byJohn FritcheyU S House of RepresentativesPreceded byMichael Flanagan Member of the U S House of Representativesfrom Illinois s 5th congressional district1997 2003 Succeeded byRahm EmanuelParty political officesPreceded byGlenn Poshard Democratic nominee for Governor of Illinois2002 2006 Succeeded byPat QuinnPolitical officesPreceded byGeorge H Ryan Governor of Illinois2003 2009 Succeeded byPat QuinnU S order of precedence ceremonial Preceded byGeorge Ryanas Former Governor Order of precedence of the United States Succeeded byPat Quinnas Former Governor Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Rod Blagojevich amp oldid 1201546762, 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