Trump pardons former Illinois Governor Blagojevich

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat and former contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice," who was convicted of corruption for trying to sell former President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.

Blagojevich was removed from office in 2009 after prosecutors said he tried to sell or trade the Senate seat vacated by Obama after Obama won the 2008 presidential election.

Speaking in the Oval Office, where he signed the pardon, Trump said Blagojevich had suffered a "terrible injustice."

Trump, during his first term, had commuted Blagojevich's 14-year sentence. Blagojevich had appeared on Trump’s reality TV show, “Celebrity Apprentice," in 2010 while awaiting trial.

The Supreme Court in 2018 rejected a bid by Blagojevich to get his sentence reduced. It had been scheduled to run until 2026.

Blagojevich cast himself as a victim of an overzealous and politically motivated prosecution by federal law enforcement, an accusation that appeared to resonate with Trump.

(Reporting By Steve Holland; Editing by David Gregorio and Sonali Paul)

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