Donald Trump has been openly hinting he may pardon former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The one-time “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant has been in jail since 2012. He was convicted on charges he tried to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat.
The Wall Street Journal reports: that “in his view, Mr. Blagojevich’s sentence was too harsh.”
President Trump earlier this week asked for a show of hands from hundreds of wealthy donors in Chicago if they supported letting former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich out of prison, according to several people who attended.
The informal poll over clemency for the disgraced former politician found that most people in the room were sympathetic, according to half-a-dozen people who were at Monday’s fundraiser in Chicago’s Trump International Hotel. A trio of Republican congressmen at the back of the room was firmly opposed, the people said.
Polling donors about whether to pardon someone isn’t exactly kosher. The Journal adds:
Christopher Smith, a professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University, said polling donors about clemency decisions was “utterly strange.”
“In the past, these cases have gone through the office of the pardon attorney at the Justice Department. There was a process that resulted in a recommendation,” he said. “It’s difficult for me to imagine another president doing this.”
Blagojevich, a Democrat, is serving 14 years.