{"id":141952,"date":"2020-02-19T05:51:07","date_gmt":"2020-02-19T05:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/trump-commutes-sentence-of-blagojevich-issues-pardon-to-kerik\/"},"modified":"2020-02-19T05:51:07","modified_gmt":"2020-02-19T05:51:07","slug":"trump-commutes-sentence-of-blagojevich-issues-pardon-to-kerik","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/trump-commutes-sentence-of-blagojevich-issues-pardon-to-kerik\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Commutes Sentence of Blagojevich, Issues Pardon to Kerik"},"content":{"rendered":"

President Donald Trump commuted the sentence of former Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and pardoned former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernard Kerik, along with several others.<\/p>\n

Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 in Chicago on 17 counts, including an attempt to sell former President Barack Obamas U.S. Senate seat that was vacated when he was elected in 2008. He received a 14-year prison term and was serving his time at a federal prison in Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, we have commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich,\u201d Trump told reporters on Feb. 18. \u201cHe served eight years in jail. Thats a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump said that he \u201cdoesnt know\u201d Blagojevich, who was often dubbed \u201cBlago\u201d in media headlines, but noted that the former governor was on several times during \u201cThe Apprentice,\u201d the NBC show that Trump had hosted and starred in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeemed like a very nice person,\u201d said Trump, suggesting that his 14-year prison term was \u201cridiculous.\u201d \u201cHell be able to go back home to his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House confirmed Blagojevichs clemency grant in a statement<\/a> and noted that there has been previous bipartisan support for the move, including from Illinois political heavyweights including Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), a member of the Democratic leadership in the Senate. Former Attorney General Eric Holder, who served under the Obama administration, also sided with Trump on commuting Blagojevichs sentence.<\/p>\n

\"Bernard
\"Bernard<\/figcaption><\/a> Bernard Kerik at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md., on March 7, 2014. (\u201cBernard Kerik\u201d by Gage Skidmore\/Flickr[CC BY-SA-2.0 (ept.ms\/2utDIe9)]<\/figure>\n

The disgraced ex-governor, who had served from 2003 to 2009, was scheduled to be released from the federal lockup in Colorado in 2024 because of good behavior.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Blagojevich wrote a column for Newsmax<\/a> titled, \u201cHouse Democrats Would Have Impeached Lincoln,\u201d where he doesnt mention Trump by name but appears to defend the president against the inquiry. He described the vote to impeach Trump in December 2019 as an abuse of power on behalf of the Democratic majority.<\/p>\n

He wrote, \u201cNo president is safe if a majority of hyperpartisan House members from the opposition party are willing to abuse the Constitution and vote to impeach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kerik, meanwhile, pleaded guilty in 2009 to charges of felony tax fraud and lying to the government and was released from prison in 2013. He thanked Trump in a statement posted on Twitter.<\/p>\n

\"trump
<\/p>\n
The Epoch Times<\/a><\/h5>\n

[contfnewc]
\n[contfnewc]
\n<\/figcaption><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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