Trump pardoned, commuted sentences for these people: the full list | Fox News

Trump pardoned, commuted sentences for these people: the full list | Fox News

Illinois governor blasts Trump for commuting sentence of Blagojevich: President has 'abused his pardon power'
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat who was convicted of attempting to sell Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat after Obama was elected president, walked out of the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Englewood in Colorado on Tuesday night and returned home a free man after President Trump commuted Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence.

Blagojevich's family and legal team were amazed and overjoyed, but some politicians back in Illinois - Democrats and Republicans alike - were outraged.

Trump “has abused his pardon power in inexplicable ways to reward his friends and condone corruption, and I deeply believe this pardon sends the wrong message at the wrong time,” Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, said in a written statement.

“In a state where corrupt, machine-style politics is still all too common, it's important that those found guilty serve their prison sentence in its entirety," said Tim Schneider, chairman of the Illinois GOP.

Blagojevich, who had served eight years in prison, was among a spree of clemency decisions Trump issued for high-profile figures Tuesday.

The president also pardoned financier Michael Milken, who pleaded guilty for violating U.S. securities laws;  former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was sentenced on tax fraud charges in 2010; and former San Francisco 49ers owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., who was convicted of failing to report a bribe to the former governor of Louisiana when he pleaded guilty in 1998, among others. Click here for the full list of Tuesday’s pardons and commutations.