CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - FEBRUARY 19: Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich arrives home from prison after his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump on February 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Blagojevich had been serving time in federal prison for attempting to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat when Obama was elected president. (Image: Getty)
Ex-con former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) is suing his home state of Illinois for stripping him of his right to run for elective office after his 2008 arrest.
Blagojevich hasn’t even decided if he will run for anything if he succeeds in regaining the right to do so. “I haven’t thought about running for office,” he said. “But I am not going to rule out any options either.”
Blagojevich addressed reporters, standing outside the same federal courthouse in Chicago where he was convicted.
“I’m back,” he declared proudly.
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The 64-year-old Democrat was freed from prison by former President Donald Trump with a pardon in February 2020. Blagojevich served eight years out of a 14-year sentence for corruption charges. The former governor allegedly attempted to sell a U.S. Senate seat (formerly occupied by Barack Obama) for campaign cash.
Blagojevich has made it clear that he is a Trump loyalist. “I’m a Trumpocrat,” he said. “I am grateful to him forever.”
Back in 2009, the Illinois House voted 114-1 to impeach and remove Blagojevich. He was the first Illinois governor to be removed by lawmakers.
Blagojevich’s lawsuit argues that his impeachment was “unconstitutional,” as he wasn’t allowed to call and question witnesses.
He has called the case against him “a travesty of justice.”
He added: “I was in that almanac for this. It sucks.”
Blagojevich is representing himself as a non-lawyer in the suit since he was stripped of his law license because of the felony conviction.
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