<p>Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, convicted years ago of corruption but released Tuesday after having his sentenced commuted by President Donald Trump, revealed his gratitude for the decision in his first interview following his release from a Denver-area Federal prison, labeling himself a newly minted &#8220;Trumpocrat.&#8221;</p>
<p>President Trump is the one who did this and I&#8217;m profoundly grateful,&#8221; Blagojevich told reporters while waiting for a flight home to Chicago, Illinois, Tuesday night. &#8220;He&#8217;s got, obviously, a big fan in me, and if you&#8217;re asking me what my party affiliation is, I&#8217;m a Trumpocrat.&#8221;</p>
<p>“He didn’t have to do this. He’s a Republican president; I was a Democratic governor,” Blagojevich added. “My fellow Democrats have not been very kind to him. In fact, they’ve been very unkind to him.”</p>
<p>Blagojevich served eight years of a fourteen year prison sentence he earned for trying to sell then-President Barack Obama&#8217;s former Senate seat to the highest bidder. Blagojevich &#8212; or &#8220;Blago&#8221; as he is affectionately known &#8212; was captured on tape by the FBI offering to trade favors for the honor of being appointed to succeed Obama, and calling the seat a &#8220;f***ing golden&#8221; thing that he would not simply give away for free.</p>
<p>The FBI&#8217;s investigation also netted former Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., and even, tangentially, the current governor of Illinois, J.B. Pritzer, <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/politics/ct-jb-pritzker-rod-blagojevich-fbi-wiretap-recordings-met-0601-20170531-story.html">according to the Chicago Tribune</a>. Pritzker was one of a handful of prominent Illinois Democrats offered the seat, but instead of turning Blagojevich down outright, Pritzker tried to negotiate with the governor, suggesting that he could be made state treasurer.</p>
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<blockquote><p>&#8220;Ooh, interesting,&#8221; Blagojevich said during a November 2008 phone call with Pritzker. &#8220;Let&#8217;s think about that. You interested in that?&#8221;</p></blockquote>
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<blockquote><p>&#8220;Yeah,&#8221; Pritzker answered, &#8220;that&#8217;s the one I would want.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
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<p>Blagojevich and his wife, Patti, lobbied for his early release, first in the courts and then in the court of public opinion. Most recently, a Federal court tossed out several of the charges on which Blagojevich had been convicted, but stubbornly refused to mitigate his sentence. Patti Blagojevich then went on Fox News to plead her husband&#8217;s case directly to the president, who is known to be a regular viewer of the network.</p>
<p>Trump commuted Blago&#8217;s sentence Tuesday as part of a wave of commutations and pardons. The president was reportedly sympathetic to Blagojevich&#8217;s plight, but told reporters that he was not a personal friend of the former governor (though he did once fire Blagojevich from his show, &#8220;Celebrity Apprentice&#8221;).</p>
<p>&#8220;Yes, we commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich. He served eight years in jail, a long time. He seems like a very nice person, don’t know him,&#8221; Trump said in a drive-by interview Tuesday.</p>
<p>“So he’ll be able to go back home with his family after serving eight years in jail,” Trump said. “That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence, in my opinion, and in the opinion of many others.”</p>
<p>Blagojevich, for his part, says he was surprised by the commutation, but plans to use his newfound freedom to help improve the criminal justice system, according to the <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-commutes-prison-sentence-of-rod-blagojevich">Washington Examiner</a>. Prison, Blagojevich said, &#8220;all too often persecutes and prosecutes people who did nothing wrong, who over-sentence people, who show no mercy.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;They can put you into prison for things that aren&#8217;t crimes,&#8221; he added, calling the Federal prison system &#8220;unfair,&#8221; &#8220;broken,&#8221; and &#8220;racist,&#8221; per the outlet.</p>

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‘I’m A TRUMPOCRAT!’: Rod Blagojevich Thanks President In First Interview After Release