Rev. Jesse Jackson, Son Ask Trump To Pardon Blagojevich
April 10, 2020 | News | No Comments
ILLINOIS — The Rev. Jesse Jackson has reportedly asked President Donald Trump to pardon former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. The request came from Jackson and his son, Jesse Jackson Jr., in a letter to the president, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Blagojevich has served about half of his 14-year sentence since he was convicted in 2011 of trying to sell the open U.S. Senate seat vacated by the election of then-President Barack Obama. In 2015, five of the 18 counts against the former governor were thrown out, but his sentence remained unchanged.
In the Jacksons’ letter appealing to the president, they cite Blagojevich’s record as a governor in his support. “[E]very child had health care,” under Blagojevich’s governance, they said, according to the Journal, adding that “every senior citizen and disabled person had free public transportation and every 3- and 4-year-old had the opportunity to go to preschool.”
In April 2018, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear Blagojevich’s appeal.
However, in May 2018, President Trump said he was considering Blagojevich’s request. “I am seriously thinking about, not pardoning, but I am seriously thinking of,” commuting Blagojevich’s sentence, the president said.
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In June, Illinois’ seven Republican members of Congress urged the president not to commute the former governor’s sentence. Blagojevich is a Democrat.
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.”
Jesse Jackson Jr. himself was convicted in 2013 of misusing campaign funds, an amount totaling about $750,000.
