Blagojevich Returns Home a Free Man

Rod Blagojevich walked out of prison Tuesday after President Trump cut short the 14-year prison sentence handed to the former Illinois governor for political corruption. The president said the punishment imposed on the Chicago Democrat and one-time contestant on Trump's reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice was excessive. "That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence in my opinion and in the opinion of many others," Trump said. Blagojevich landed at Chicago’s O’Hare airport early Wednesday a free man, promising judicial and criminal justice reform while maintaining his innocence. "Ï didn’t do the things they said I did and they lied on me," Blagojevich told WGN-TV.

Promising he will have more to say in a Wednesday news conference, Blagojevich told WGN-TV he appreciated the president's action. "I’m profoundly grateful to President Trump and it’s a profound and everlasting gratitude,” the 63-year-old said. "He didn’t have to do this, he's a Republican president and I was a Democratic governor. I'll have a lot more to say tomorrow." As he exited the airport doors he was rushed by media and supporters, signing a few autographs before getting into a white SUV and speeding out of the airport toward his Ravenswood home. There he was rushed through a crowd of journalists and supporters to his front door. He said he was happy to be home with his wife and children before disappearing into the house.