Area GOP lawmakers plead with Trump not to reduce disgraced governor’s sentence

Posted on June 11, 2018

*All seven Republican Illinois Congressman have written the President, asking that he not commute the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (WJBC File Photo)*

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – Illinois’ Republican members of Congress are writing President Trump, pleading with him not to commute the 14 year prison sentence for former Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Central Illinois Congressmen Darrin LaHood, Rodney Davis, and Adam Kinzinger are among the seven Illinois Republicans who signed the letter after the president said he believed the court system unfairly treated Blagojevich.

The letter reminded the president that the sentence reflected a consistent pattern of public corruption, culminating in the ultimate act of corruption: trying to sell Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat.

“While we understand that, as president, you have the privilege and right under our Constitution to grant pardons and clemency as you determine fit, we ask that you consider very carefully the precedent this may set and the impact it will have on acts of public corruption in the future. As you well know, the integrity of our democracy and the core of American values depend on our elected officials being honest in upholding the trust given to them by the American people. Granting clemency to Rod Blagojevich would go against this trust,” the letter said.

Commuting the sentence now, the lawmakers say, ensures Blagovevich would serve the lower end of the sentencing range, and it would demoralize law enforcement officers who fight public corruption and defend the rule of law.

Blagojevich believes he’s being punished for practicing politics. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, a Democrat, believes 14 years was too long of a sentence for the former governor’s crimes.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

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