After his release from prison, Blagojevich, who was a Democrat, said that he's "profoundly grateful" to President Donald Trump.
ADVERTISEMENTFormer Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, freed from prison Tuesday, heaped gratitude on President Donald Trump for commuting his sentence."President Trump is the one who did this, and I'm ... profoundly grateful," Blagojevich, who was a Democrat, told reporters Tuesday night at Denver International Airport."He's got obviously a big fan in me," Blagojevich said. "And if you're asking me what my party affiliation is, I'm a Trump-ocrat."Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office in 2009 on corruption charges and was sentenced in 2011 to 14 years in federal prison. He had served eight years.The corruption charges were related to his solicitation of bribes in an attempt to "sell" the Senate seat Barack Obama left open after he was elected president.Blagojevich had been at the low-security Federal Correctional Institute in Englewood, Colorado. He was a contestant on Trump's reality TV show "The Celebrity Apprentice" in 2010.In addition to commuting Blagojevich's sentence Tuesday, the Trump also pardoned former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik, former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr., and Michael Milken.The president had said in August that he was "very strongly" consideringgiving Blagojevich a reprieve.