WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Monday will pardon former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, according to a person familiar with his plans who was not authorized to speak publicly.
Trump already commuted Blagojevich’s 14-year sentence for political corruption charges during his first term. He planned to sign the pardon on Monday afternoon, according to the person.
Blagojevich, a Democrat who appeared on Trump’s reality TV show, “Celebrity Apprentice,” was convicted in 2011 and sentenced for 14 years. He served eight years before Trump, a Republican, cut short his term.
Blagojevich appeared on “Celebrity Apprentice” in 2010, before his first corruption trial started, drawing praise from Trump at the time when he “fired” him as a contestant.
Later as president, Trump drew links between investigations of his own behavior in his first term and Blagojevich’s case.
Patrick Fitzgerald, the former U.S. attorney who prosecuted Blagojevich, represented former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired from the agency in 2017.
Comey was working in the private sector during the Blagojevich investigation and indictment.
Former special counsel Robert Mueller, who oversaw the investigation into ties between between Russia and Trump’s 2016 campaign, was FBI director during the investigation into Blagojevich.
Blagojevich was convicted on 18 counts. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago in 2015 tossed out five of the convictions, including ones in which he offered to appoint someone to a high-paying job in the Senate.
Axios first reported the news of the expected pardon on Monday afternoon.
