Trump's decision to commute Blagojevich's sentence was met with bipartisan criticism in Illinois. Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker said at the time that 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."

President Donald Trump on Monday granted a full pardon to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted on 18 corruption counts, including for his attempt to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat in 2008 – and who holds the distinction of being the state’s only impeached governor.

President Donald Trump, who previously commuted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's federal sentence on corruption charges, said Blagojevich was "set up by a lot of bad people."