Rod Blagojevich
Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009
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| May 2025 | Blagojevich was reported to be considering a potential bid for the 2026 United States Senate election in Illinois, with uncertainty about which political party he might seek the nomination from. |
| 2025 | Fully pardoned by President Donald Trump. |
| February 10 2025 | President Donald Trump pardoned Blagojevich, clearing his criminal record. |
| 2024 | Attended the Republican National Convention, supporting Donald Trump's presidential campaign. |
| 2024 | Blagojevich supported Donald Trump's presidential campaigns and attended the 2024 Republican National Convention. |
| September 2021 | The podcast The Lightning Rod, hosted by Rod Blagojevich, concluded its run. |
| August 2020 | Rod Blagojevich was announced as the featured speaker at a fundraising event for Republican state senate candidate Tom McCullagh, aimed at understanding and combating corruption in Illinois. |
| May 2020 | Rod Blagojevich launched a politics-themed podcast titled The Lightning Rod on WLS-AM 890. |
| May 18 2020 | The Supreme Court of Illinois officially disbarred Rod Blagojevich after the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission found he had engaged in 'a pattern of dishonest and deceptive conduct'. |
| February 19 2020 | Rod Blagojevich held a press conference at his home in Chicago, describing himself as a 'political prisoner' and promising to use his prison experience to address issues within the criminal justice system. |
| February 18 2020 | Blagojevich was released from prison after his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump. |
| June 5 2018 | Rod Blagojevich officially filed a petition requesting President Trump for commutation of his sentence. |
| May 31 2018 | President Donald Trump mentioned he was considering commuting Rod Blagojevich's sentence, calling it 'unfair' and suggesting that Blagojevich's statements about enriching himself were 'stupid', similar to remarks made by other politicians. |
| April 16 2018 | The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Blagojevich's appeal, marking the second time in two years the court declined to review his case. |
| November 3 2017 | Blagojevich's attorneys filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court. |
| August 2016 | A resentencing hearing was held in the district court, where Judge Zagel re-imposed Blagojevich's original 14-year sentence from 2011. |
| March 2016 | The Supreme Court of the United States denied Blagojevich's petition for a writ of certiorari. |
| March 28 2016 | The Supreme Court of the United States announced they would defer hearing Blagojevich's appeal, redirecting it to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. |
| July 2015 | The Seventh Circuit unanimously vacated five of Blagojevich's corruption convictions, including the conviction for attempting to sell Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat, but affirmed the rest. |
| December 2013 | A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit heard arguments regarding Blagojevich's appeal. |
| July 2013 | Rod Blagojevich filed an appeal with the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, challenging his corruption conviction and the length of his prison term. |
| March 15 2012 | Blagojevich reported to Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood, Colorado, to begin serving his prison sentence. |
| December 7 2011 | Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his corruption convictions. |
| November 1 2011 | William Cellini was found guilty of multiple charges related to the contract and campaign contribution scheme. |
| June 27 2011 | Found guilty of 17 federal charges in a second trial. |
| June 27 2011 | Blagojevich was found guilty of 17 of the 20 remaining charges in his retrial, including charges related to the Senate seat sale, and extortion concerning state funds directed at a children's hospital and race track. |
| April 20 2011 | The retrial of Rod Blagojevich was set to begin. |
| August 2010 | Blagojevich appeared at the Wizard World Chicago comic convention, interacting with attendees and charging $50 for autographs and $80 for photos. |
| August 23 2010 | A post-verdict court date was set for Blagojevich following the declaration of a mistrial on 23 counts. |
| August 23 2010 | After his removal from office, Rod Blagojevich made another appearance on The Daily Show where he defended himself against host Jon Stewart's critiques, specifically regarding his previous declarations and his desire to tell his side in court. |
| August 17 2010 | Blagojevich was convicted on one of the 24 federal charges, specifically for lying to the FBI, while the jury was hung on 23 other counts, leading to a mistrial on those charges. |
| August 11 2010 | After eleven days of jury deliberations, the jury sent Judge James Zagel a note suggesting potential deadlock on some or all counts, raising the possibility of a hung jury. |
| August 10 2010 | Alonzo Monk, a former chief of staff, pleaded guilty and testified against Governor Blagojevich, subsequently receiving a two-year prison sentence. |
| July 27 2010 | Final arguments in the criminal trial concluded, and the jury began deliberations. |
| June 2010 | A trial was set for Rod Blagojevich in relation to the charges brought against him. |
| April 2010 | Blagojevich moved to subpoena Barack Obama in relation to the Senate seat appointment controversy. |
| April 4 2010 | Blagojevich was fired by Donald Trump in the fourth episode of season 9 of 'The Celebrity Apprentice', which aired. |
| February 4 2010 | Prosecutors amended the indictment in anticipation of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the 'Honest Services' law. |
| January 2010 | In an interview with Esquire, Blagojevich made controversial remarks about President Obama, which he later clarified but maintained that his message about everyday people's frustrations was valid. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Rod Blagojevich controversies, Rod Blagojevich corruption charges & Rod Blagojevich, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.