ROD BLAGOJEVICH

Good afternoon, Chicago. Here's what is happening today.

Vintage Chicago Tribune offers a look back at events, places and people involved in shaping Chicago’s past, present and future, in ways both small and big.

Good afternoon, Chicago. Here's what is happening today.

Good morning, Chicago. Here are some highlights from the Chicago Tribune's archives in honor of the newspaper's 175th anniversary.

A jury last week couldn't reach a unanimous verdict for two men charged with a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Former Chicago Ald. Ricardo Muñoz is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for stealing money from his campaign fund and spending it on school tuition, trips, sporting events and other personal items.

Prosecutors are using a text to argue that former alderman Munoz deserves a year behind bars for his conviction on charges he spent thousands of dollars in campaign cash on personal luxuries.

When he was acquitted of murder for shootings during unrest in Kenosha, Kyle Rittenhouse went from staring at possible life behind bars to red-hot star of the right.

An alleged scheme to lavish benefits on longtime House Speaker Michael Madigan in exchange for his influence on Commonwealth Edison legislation in Springfield clearly meets the criteria of the bribery statute, feds say.

A federal judge on Tuesday put an early end to the two-year period of supervised release of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose 14-year prison sentence for corruption was commuted by President Donald Trump. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued an order saying, “early termination of supervision is granted as to Rod Blagojevich.” President Donald Trump commuted the 64-year-old Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence in February 2020.

(AP Photo/Hans Pennink, File )ALBANY, N.Y. – A woman who currently works in the office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he looked down her shirt and made suggestive remarks to her and another aide, according to a newspaper report published Friday. Alyssa McGrath told The New York Times that Cuomo called her beautiful in Italian, referred to her and her female colleague as “mingle mamas,” asked why she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring and inquired about her divorce. “I put my head down waiting for him to start speaking, and he didn’t start speaking,” she told The Times. AdBennett and several other women who have accused Cuomo of harassment have already been interviewed by attorneys working for Attorney General Letitia James.

FILE - In this Nov. 5, 2020 file photo, President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington. The president's legal entanglements are likely to intensify when leaves the White House in January 2021 and loses immunity from prosecution. The probe led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is one of several legal entanglements likely to intensify when Trump loses power — and immunity from prosecution — upon leaving the White House. Trump faces two New York state inquiries into whether he misled tax authorities, banks or business partners. Carroll says Trump raped her in the mid-1990s in a New York department store.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Rod Blagojevich, a former Illinois governor forced out of office for trying to peddle Barack Obamas vacated U.S. Senate seat, thanked President Donald Trump on Wednesday for commuting his prison sentence and again proclaimed his innocence. One of more than a half-dozen people pardoned or granted clemency by Trump on Tuesday, Blagojevich was released on the same day after serving eight years of a 14-year sentence. We want to express our most profound and everlasting gratitude to President Trump, Blagojevich told reporters and curious onlookers as he stood outside his home on Chicagos North Side, flanked by his wife and two daughters. Blagojevich referred to himself as a Trumpocrat.Its been a long, long journey, he said. One of the onlookers, Thurgood Papadopalous, held a large poster of Blagojevichs face but disparaged the former governor to a reporter.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump came under fire on Tuesday for commuting the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the ex-Illinois governor convicted of trying to peddle Barack Obamas vacated U.S. Senate seat. Trump also pardoned Michael Milken, once considered Wall Streets junk bond king, along with six others, and commuted the sentences of another three people. The recipients of clemency had been convicted on charges ranging from defrauding the federal government to theft. Im profoundly grateful to President Trump. The pardoning of these disgraced figures should be treated as another national scandal by a lawless executive, said Democratic U.S. Representative Bill Pascrell, referring to Blagojevich and Milken.

Blagojevich served eight years of a 14-year sentence on corruption charges and had been incarcerated since 2012. Blagojevich began his remarks by expressing "our most profound and everlasting gratitude to President Trump." "President Trump is a man who is tough and outspoken, but he also has a kind heart," Blagojevich said. The president said Tuesday that Blagojevich "served eight years in jail, a long time," and called his sentence "a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence, in my opinion." He was released from FCI Englewood prison in Colorado late Tuesday, hours after Mr. Trump announced the commutation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump pardoned seven people on Tuesday including former junk bond king Michael Milken and commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the ex-Illinois governor convicted of trying to peddle Barack Obamas vacated U.S. Senate seat. That was a tremendously powerful, ridiculous sentence, said Republican Trump, a real estate developer who produced the show before running for president. Milken, once considered Wall Streets junk bond king was indicted in 1989 in an insider trading probe. Trump also pardoned Eddie DeBartolo Jr., the former owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team. He pleaded guilty in 1998 to failing to report a felony regarding payment demanded for a riverboat casino license in a bribery scheme.

Trump commutes Rod Blagojevich's sentence President Trump issued a slew of pardons and commutations on Tuesday, granting clemency to 11 people convicted of federal crimes, including former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and ex-New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik. CBSN's Lana Zak reports.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich waves to supporters outside his home after returning from his sentencing hearing December 7, 2011 in Chicago. President Donald Trump granted executive clemency Tuesday to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, as well as to ex-New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik and to Edward DeBartolo Jr., former owner of the San Francisco 49ers football team. In all, Trump granted some form of executive clemency to 11 individuals Tuesday, according to the White House. "That has to be the case in America: a justice system must hold public officials accountable for corruption.

Most of the 200 to 300 attendees raised their hands, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing several people at Monday's event. On the same day, Trump told Chicago's WLS-TV that despite bringing up the possibility of freeing Blagojevich in August and then appearing to back away from the idea Blagojevich shouldn't abandon hope of an early release. Blagojevich's wife, Patti, has lobbied the Republican president hard on her husband's behalf. Trump first publicly mentioned the idea in May 2018, saying Blagojevich was convicted for "being stupid, saying things ... many other politicians say." Trump said at Monday's fundraiser he believed Blagojevich's sentence was too harsh, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. Rep. Mike Bost , an Illinois Republican who was there.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was seriously considering commuting the prison sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He served from January 2003 to January 2009, when the Illinois Senate removed him from office. Blagojevich began serving a 14-year prison sentence in 2012. I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly, Trump told reporters on Air Force One. I am thinking about commuting his sentence.The U.S. Supreme Court last year turned away Blagojevichs latest bid to shorten his prison sentence.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich waves to supporters outside his home after returning from his sentencing hearing December 7, 2011 in Chicago. President Donald Trump tweeted on Thursday that his staff continues to review the possibility of commuting the remainder of former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's 14-year prison sentence. "Rod Blagojevich, the former Governor of Illinois, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Many people have asked that I study the possibility of commuting his sentence in that it was a very severe one.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich arrives for a court hearing at the Dirksen Federal Building on April 21, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois. President Donald Trump said this week that he was considering a commutation of the remainder of former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's 14-year prison sentence. But Blagojevich's friends and family think it could actually happen this time. "His name is Rod Blagojevich.