Illinois leaders slam Trump’s decision to pardon Blagojevich
What will Blagojevich do next now that he is pardoned?
Ex-Illinois Gov. Blagojevich spoke to the media after he was pardoned by President Trump earlier today.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose 14-year sentence for political corruption charges he commuted during his first term.
The Republican president called the Democratic former governor, who once appeared on Trump's reality TV show "Celebrity Apprentice," "a very fine person" and said the conviction and prison sentence "shouldn't have happened."
Now, reactions are pouring in from across the state and country in response to Trump's pardon.
Comptroller Susana Mendoza
What they're saying:
"President Trump has the power as president to pardon whomever he wants.
The president can pardon someone as unworthy as Rod Blagojevich, who threatened to hold up funds from a children’s hospital unless the hospital’s CEO donated to his campaign. That was my bill to fund treatment for sick children that Blagojevich held up.
Long before it was fashionable to criticize the governor of my own party, I was a lonely voice calling for Blagojevich’s impeachment. I stand by my remarks on the floor of the House during his impeachment after I co-sponsored the bill to launch the impeachment committee against Blagojevich:
‘It’s amazingly fitting that Governor Blagojevich face impeachment today of all days on his self-admitted hero Richard Nixon’s birthday. Their common bond of impeachment will unite them in history’s dark annals of corruption. But even Nixon displayed more integrity than Blagojevich by resigning before he was impeached. I sponsored House Bill 5331 that would have provided $8 million for specialty care pediatricians in Illinois. Those sick children, Governor, they’re still waiting. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that Governor Blagojevich would have pulled back funds for sick children in order to extort the president of the children’s hospital.’
A pardon does not erase his crimes from the memory of many Illinoisans whose trust he violated and it never will."
Ex-Illinois Gov. Blagojevich speaks after being pardoned by Trump
The Republican president called the Democratic former governor, who once appeared on Trump's reality TV show "Celebrity Apprentice," "a very fine person" and said the conviction and prison sentence "shouldn't have happened."
Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran
What they're saying:
"I strongly disagree with President Donald Trump’s decision to pardon disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Illinois taxpayers have and continue to be burdened with the cost of public corruption, and this pardon sends the wrong message."
State Treasurer Michael Frerichs
What they're saying:
"I made sure Rod Blagojevich was barred from holding state or local office after I voted to remove him as governor. Our disgraced ex-governor held hostage funds for sick kids in a campaign cash shakedown. It's no surprise Trump doesn't think Blagojevich committed any crimes."
The Source: Information from this article came from the comptroller's office, Curran's office, the state treasurer's office and the Associated Press.