The Illinois Supreme Court disbarred former state Gov. Rod Blagojevich months after he was released from prison by President Trump.
The court agreed to disbar Blagojevich formally on Monday at the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission’s request after the former governor’s prison sentence was commuted by Trump in February. Blagojevich did not fight the commission’s attempt to end his legal career permanently, saying that he would not be a good attorney after years behind bars and expressing no interest in returning to a legal practice.
“Imagine yourself sitting on a plane, and then the pilot announces before takeoff that he hasn’t flown in 25 years,” he said. “Wouldn’t you want to get off that plane? I don’t want to hurt anybody.”
Blagojevich served eight years of his 14-year sentence before Trump stepped in. The former governor was convicted on corruption charges in 2011 after he attempted to sell former President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat and tried to extort campaign donations from a children’s hospital.
