IL Republicans Ask Trump Not To Commute Blagojevich's Sentence

(Editor's note: this article formerly stated the incorrect year of Blagojevich's conviction.)

SPRINGFIELD, IL — Illinois' seven Republican members of Congress wrote a letter to President Donald Trump urging him not to commute the sentence of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 of 13 counts of public corruption, landing him 14 years in federal prison.

Referencing the president's campaign promises to "drain the swamp," the seven Republicans said in the letter that commuting Blagojevich's sentence would "send a damaging message on your efforts to root out public corruption in our government."

Blagojevich, a Democrat, was found guilty of essentially trying to sell the Senate seat left vacant by Barack Obama as he ran for president in 2008. They also said in the letter that he "participated in several pay-to-play practices in which he attempted to solicit money in exchange for official public acts.

"Two examples include withholding $8 to $10 million in reimbursement money from Children's Memorial Hospital until they agreed to contribute over $50,000 to his campaign and withholding the signing of a piece of legislation beneficial to race tracks until one of the race track owners agreed to a $100,000 campaign contribution."

President Trump said he is "seriously thinking about" commutation for Blagojevich. "I'll tell you another one, there's another one I'm thinking about [commuting], Rod Blagojevich," he said in May. "Eighteen years in jail for being stupid and saying things that every other politician, you know that many other politicians say," Trump said, mistakenly adding four years to Blagojevich's sentence.

Blagojevich claims he was punished for playing politics. "Fundraising is a routine and necessary part of America's political system," he said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, claiming that under the arguments prosecutors used to convict him, all fundraising can be viewed as bribery.

See more:

• Blagojevich Officially Asks Trump To Commute Sentence
• Trump 'Seriously Thinking About' Commutation For Blagojevich
• Illinois Republicans' Letter To President Trump
• Blagojevich's First Prison Interview: 5 Things You Need To Know
• Blagojevich Says He's In Prison For 'Practicing Politics'

"Let me be clear: I never accepted gifts, vacations, clothes, jewelry or flights on fancy jets in exchange for my political influence," he wrote. "Whenever I went to a Chicago Cubs game, I paid for my own tickets. Yet here I am in my sixth year of a 14-year prison sentence for the routine practice of attempting to raise campaign funds while governor."

Republicans aren't the only ones urging the president to keep the former Democratic governor behind bars. Democrat Mike Quigley said in a statement to HuffPost "I do not support the commuting of Rod Blagojevich’s sentence, and I believe that such action would constitute yet another abuse of power on behalf of a president who only has his self-interest in mind."

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