MAGA-Pardoned Illinois Governor Paid Six Figures to Lobby Trump for a Second Pardon

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, infamous for trying to sell Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat, was controversially pardoned by Donald Trump in 2020 after serving eight years of a 14-year prison sentence. But the story didn’t end there. According to a new report from the Chicago Tribune, Blagojevich allegedly paid a lobbying firm a six-figure amount to press Trump for a second pardon—one that never materialized.

Blagojevich’s initial pardon raised eyebrows across the political spectrum. A Democrat convicted of a serious abuse of power, his clemency from Trump, a Republican president, was widely seen as an odd act of political favoritism or a payoff for loyalty. Now, the revelation that Blagojevich was willing to pay big money to secure additional clemency further corrodes any remaining faith in the presidential pardon process.

The pardon power is meant to be a constitutional check on the justice system, a way to correct miscarriages of justice or show mercy. But when it becomes a tool for rich, connected political figures to buy their way out of consequences, it undermines the rule of law and public trust. Blagojevich’s case is just the latest example of how pardons can reward corruption instead of punishing it.

This scandal comes amid a broader pattern of Trump’s pardon abuses, including clemency for January 6 rioters, political allies, and others who benefited from loyalty rather than justice. The Blagojevich saga underscores the urgent need for transparency and reform in how pardons are granted. Without it, the pardon power risks becoming another weapon for the powerful to evade accountability.

We will continue to track this story and other examples of pardon abuses as part of our mission to hold the Trump administration and its allies accountable for corruption and attacks on democratic norms.