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Defiant Blagojevich heaps praise on Trump after commutation – POLITICO, Politico

Defiant Blagojevich heaps praise on Trump after commutation – POLITICO, Politico
                 

        

        

        

    

In 2018, a federal appeals court overturned four of the original 19 counts on which Blagojevich was convicted, ruling that aspects of his handling of the Senate vacancy amounted to traditional political “logrolling” that was illegal. But it upheld the other counts and triggered a resentencing that affirmed his original 19 – year sentence.

On Wednesday, Blagojevich framed his conviction and imprisonment as grave injustices. He expressed his “most profound and everlasting gratitude” to the president for returning him to his family, highlighting some of the family milestones he missed while in prison and lamenting that “now I wish that I could slow down time.”

But “I want to say again to the people of Illinois who twice elected me governor, I didn’t let you down. I would have let you down if I had given in to this, ”he declared.

Throughout his remarks, which included a sweeping condemnation of the criminal justice system and praise for the Trump administration’s push for reforms, Blagojevich intermittently dabbed at his chin with a napkin, explaining that “it’s been a long time since I’ve shaved with a normal razor – it takes a little practice ”and apologizing“ for the blood. ” His wife, Patti, who waged a media campaign on Fox News to lobby the president for her husband’s release, offered an apology to the assembled crowd for their tardiness.

“He couldn’t find where I put his socks this morning,” she joked.

Blagojevich repeatedly thanked and praised the president, who commuted six other sentences and offered four full pardons on Tuesday. The former governor was especially thankful that the president, a Republican, would reach across party lines to commute the sentence of a Democrat.

“How do you properly thank someone who’s given you back the freedom that was stolen from you?” he asked, adding: “Doing this does nothing to help his politics.”

“President Trump is a man who is tough and outspoken, but he also has a kind heart. And this is an act of kindness and I believe it’s the beginning of a process that – to actually turn an injustice into a justice, ”he continued.

Trump’s pardons while in office have overwhelmingly skewed toward celebrity , and Tuesday’s blitz of legal moves similarly involved several high-profile white-collar criminals. The president’s willingness to eschew the traditional pardon process, which typically involves thorough reviews at the Justice Department, has alarmed clemency advocates.

But Blagojevich framed his release as a long overdue restoration of justice and a product of the Trump administration’s focus on criminal justice reform.

“One of the great ironies of history is that so far up until now, in the history of our country right now, no one has done more or is currently working to do more to fix this broken and racist criminal justice system than President Trump and Jared Kushner, ”he said, bemoaning” oversentencing “and general incarceration rates in the United States.

Trump is a “problem solver in a business where too many politicans don’t want to solve problems all they want to do is play politics,” Blagojevich continued, repeating his declaration that “I’m a Trumpocrat” but conceding that, as a convicted felon, he might not be allowed to vote for the president. “Our president is tough and outspoken, he has the courage to challenge the old ways. He’s the one whose actually fighting to bring real change, that’s why he’s getting so much pushback.”

He went on: “I’ve got 14, 05 reasons to be thankful to President Trump. I’m obviously thankful to be home and have my freedom back and just be able to hold my wife’s hand. But most of all, I’m thankful to you, Mr. President, for giving my daughters their father back. “

After his removal from office in Illinois, Blagojevich appeared in four episodes of Trump’s NBC reality TV show “The Celebrity Apprentice,” though Trump on Tuesday suggested he didn’t know the former governor very well.

He “seemed like a nice person,” Trump said of Blagojevich, contending that “many people disagree with the sentence.”

    

         

    

    

    

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