On Tuesday, President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was also a candidate on Trump’s television show, “The Apprentice.” Blagojevich was convicted of a scheme in which he was essentially selling off the Senate seat occupied by Barack Obama before he was elected to the Oval Office.
Trump spoke to reporters before boarding Air Force One on Tuesday, saying that Blagojevich “served eight years in jail — it’s a long time.”
“And I watched his wife on television, I don’t know him very well. I’ve met him a couple of times, he was on for a short while on ‘The Apprentice’ years ago, seemed like a very nice person, don’t know him.”
He added that “many people disagree with the sentence, he’s a Democrat, he’s not a Republican. It was a prosecution by the same people, Comey, Fitzpatrick, the same group.” Trump also said that Blagojevich “will be able to go back home with his family after serving eight years in jail.”
Trump on commuting sentence for Blagojevich: "It was a prosecution by the same people — Comey, Fitzpatrick — the same group." pic.twitter.com/gXigT20Fdc
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 18, 2020
Trump also pardoned Bernard Kerik, a former New York police commissioner, who was convicted of tax fraud.
The president’s decisions came after days of speculation about whether Trump will pardon his former aide Roger Stone, who has been convicted of lying to the government and witness tampering. Trump has frequently weighed in on Stone’s conviction and on Tuesday morning, he called for all the cases stemming from Robert Mueller’s probe (Stone was investigated in the Mueller probe) to be “thrown out.”
Trump’s tendency to weigh in on criminal cases on Twitter has even earned a rare but gentle criticism from Attorney General Bill Barr who said that the president’s habit of tweeting about ongoing cases “make it impossible for me to do my job.”