President Trump will reportedly commute former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1291769
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1291769
Well, at least Trump is equal opportunity on the pardon front.
Blagojevich is a Democrat.
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Speaking as an Illinoisan, we don’t want him back.
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Trump is trying really hard to drive the news cycle by dangling this.
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Blagojevich is a grifter. That makes him Donnie’s kind of people.
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At what point do we officially declare this the “Hold my beer and watch this” portion of Donald’s presidency?
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Blago is a corrupt scumbag.
Just like everyone Trump pardons, commutes sentences for, or otherwise asserts was “treated very unfairly” by the justice system.
Guys very much like himself, ya know.
Setting the expectations extremely low for acceptable behavior so his own will be considered just fine.
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Well, the Feds had to free up space for Ed Burke and his cronies in the Illinois and Chicago Blocks of the Englewood Federal Correctional Institution.
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I wonder if Trump can retroactively sell Obama’s senate seat.
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I really think we have enough information now to predict Trump’s behavior on a daily basis. I’m at work on a monumental algorithm, the mother of all algorithms, the first to predict a human being’s behavior any length of time into the future up until the point of death. I haven’t completed it yet, but the rough idea is this: Trump will be maximally obnoxious and corrupt at every opportunity. I haven’t quite worked out the frequency and amplitude, but the data suggest that both are yuge.
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Well, at least the guy has served half his sentence (seven years in, so far??).
It’s more than Stone will serve.
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That’s it. It’s all over in Illinois. TRump will take Illinois because we love our Blago!
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I’m still a bit foggy on why Trump would do this. What’s in it for him exactly? Is he planning on trotting Blago out at campaign events to make it look like Democrats like him (despite the fact that Blagojevich is universally despised by Dems)? Is this to send a message that pay-for-play political corruption is a-okay in Trump’s America? Does Trump just want more ex-con slimeballs in his orbit? It’s hard to say…
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Maybe to thumb his nose at the Roger Stone judge as the sentencing conference takes place?
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“Trump will reportedly commute former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence.”
“The commutation, however, applies only to Blagojevich, leaving the full sentence intact for his toupee.”
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Besides the personal bit where Blagojevich knows Trump, the reason Trump is doing this is to needle the man who prosecuted Blago, former U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald is now Comey’s lawyer. I’m sure we’ll soon hear something about a “Deep State” witch hunt about good ole’ Rod.
ETA: Trump already pardoned Fitzgerald’s other big conviction; Scotter Libby. These pardons/commutations are a smack at Fitzgerald and Comey.
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It is a giant f/u to the criminal justice system in this country and Obama’s DOJ. Trump expects something in return from Blago. Who knows how this will play out but I fully expect to see old Rod on the campaign trail with Trump and his spawn.
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A very clear and consistent signal: corruption is the most pardonable crime. In fact, the pardons today make it obvious for anyone who did not already know: in this administration corruption is not considered a crime.
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I do think there might be some logic to that… pardon a high-profile scumbag like Blagojevich to really hammer home the point that the rule of law now bends to Trump’s will.
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He feels threatened, so he’s flaunting the pardon/commutation power as an assertion of dominance.
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