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Presidential Clemency Record

Rod R. Blagojevich

Pardon

  /   2025–Present

Record at a Glance

Clemency type
Pardon
Presidential term
2025–Present
Federal district
Northern District of Illinois
Offense
Wire fraud under color of official right (eight counts); conspiracy/attempted; attempt to commit extortion under color of official right; conspiracy to solicit and solicitation of bribe (three counts); making false statements
Sentence
168 months' imprisonment (as amended); 24 months' supervised release; $20,000 fine (December 7, 2011)
Current status
The latest source captured reports that Blagojevich was lobbying in July 2026 for clemency for a former Indiana politician. This reported advocacy work is not a criminal allegation or a public-office appointment.

Original Case

In the first 2010 trial, Blagojevich was convicted of one false-statement count; the jury deadlocked on the remaining counts. At the 2011 retrial, he was convicted on 17 additional counts: ten wire-fraud, two attempted-extortion, two extortion-conspiracy, one bribery-solicitation, and two conspiracy-to-solicit/accept-bribe counts. He was sentenced to 168 months’ imprisonment, two years’ supervision, and a $20,000 fine. The Seventh Circuit later vacated Counts 5, 6, 21, 22, and 23; the government declined retrial and he was resentenced to the same 168 months on the remaining 13 counts. The five vacated counts are therefore not included among his sustained convictions.

Clemency

Trump’s February 18, 2020 warrant commuted only the prison sentence to time served; it expressly left the two-year supervised-release term, its conditions, and the $20,000 fine intact. The signed February 10, 2025 warrant then granted a full and unconditional pardon of the specified N.D. Illinois case.

Trump Connection

Blagojevich appeared as a contestant on Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice in 2010, creating a direct but limited personal association. His wife, Patti Blagojevich, spent years publicly appealing to Trump and conservative audiences for relief. Trump first commuted the prison term in 2020, then issued a full pardon in 2025, saying he knew Blagojevich only from the show and believed the prosecution had been unjust. Those statements explain Trump’s rationale but do not overturn the surviving convictions.

Since Clemency

  • 2025-10-30 · foreign consulting disclosure

    An RRB Strategies FARA supplemental signed by Blagojevich identified Michael Flynn as a consultant for its Republic of Srpska engagement and disclosed a $100,000 payment to Resilient Patriotic LLC for a Flynn consulting fee.

    Legal Status: Foreign-principal business disclosure. The named principal is an entity within Bosnia and Herzegovina; this filing does not identify a Russian payer or find criminal misconduct.

  • 2026-07-23 · lobbying

    Reporting identified Blagojevich lobbying for clemency for a former Indiana politician convicted in a vote-buying case.

    Legal Status: Reported lobbying activity; no allegation of a new offense is implied.

  • 2026-10-06 · public appearance

    Reuters photographer Joshua Lott documented Blagojevich at his book-launch event in Chicago.

    Legal Status: Documented public appearance; no new criminal, civil, or public-office status is established.

Sources

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