# Commute Blagojevich's sentence? What is Trump thinking? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 1, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275 "2018-06-01T18:38:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/1 "2018-06-01T18:38:38Z")
Why on earth would Trump be talking about commuting Blagojevich’s sentence, when Blagojevich is a Democrat and there is no obvious constituency of Trump supporters yearning to see the man go free? I can think of a few possibilities, none of which would make any sense in the world pre-2016: [ol] [li]He thinks he’ll gain sympathy from Democrats[/li][li]He’ll do anything to piss off people in any blue state[/li][li]Blagojevich recently wrote “The rule of law is under assault in America,” so Trump thinks he’s an ally in the Russia investigation[/li][li]Trump knows he’ll eventually be prosecuted for crimes similar to Blagojevich’s, and he wants to set a precedent for more lenient sentencing[/li][/ol] Other theories? Or is it just more random idiocy from the nutcase-in-chief? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/2 "2018-06-01T18:49:50Z")
IMO he’s just getting the public used to the president pardoning people. He thinks pardoning a bunch of random people will lessen the controversy when he pardons someone like Kushner, Manafort, Trump Jnr, or some other potentially co-operating witness in the Mueller investigation. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/3 "2018-06-01T19:00:03Z")
Maybe you’re right. How else can you explain [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/sports/jack-johnson-pardon-trump.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24/sports/jack-johnson-pardon-trump.html)? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/4 "2018-06-01T19:06:22Z")
Probably some combination of: “Hey, those of you thinking of flipping to avoid jail time, don’t do it, I’ll bail you out with a pardon.” And: “Hey, you didn’t complain when I pardoned the Democrat Blago, why are complaining now that I’m pardoning \. You’re just being partisan.” For the record, I hope he doesn’t pardon Blago, and I don’t think he should have pardon D’Felon, nor do I think Clinton should have pardoned Rich. Personally, I hate the pardon power – it’s treating the president like a king. Ever since I was really aware of it with the Rich pardon, I thought it should be removed from the constitution. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/5 "2018-06-01T19:17:30Z")
Wasn’t he on _The Apprentice_? ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/6 "2018-06-01T19:18:28Z")
Some men just want to watch the world blurn. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/7 "2018-06-01T19:21:09Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wasn’t he on _The Apprentice_? Yes – I forgot about that. So they’re old pals. Or they swapped wives or something. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/8 "2018-06-01T19:21:41Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > “Hey, you didn’t complain when I pardoned the Democrat Blago, why are complaining now that I’m pardoning \. You’re just being partisan.” I think this is it. It costs Trump nothing to hand out pardons. By throwing one to a Democrat, he’s trying to mute criticism for all of the ones he’s been giving to conservatives. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/9 "2018-06-01T19:23:32Z")
Trump took a shine to Blagojevich when he (Blago) was on _The Apprentice_. I think Trump sees him as a kindred spirit. As Illinois governor, Blagojevich—like Trump—ignored long-established norms and did whatever the hell he wanted. I agree that Trump sees his current legal jeopardy as very similar to what landed Blagojevich in federal prison. Blago believed (and still believes) that there was nothing wrong with leveraging Obama’s Senate seat for financial gain; to him, it was just routine fundraising and political horsetrading stuff. Commuting Blago’s sentence would, in Trump’s view, further normalize Trump-like political behavior. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/10 "2018-06-01T19:38:45Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Wasn’t he on _The Apprentice_? Yes, Blago was on Trump’s reality show, as was Martha Stewart, who also had her own ill-fated Apprentice spinoff, (executive) produced by Trump. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/11 "2018-06-01T19:41:40Z")
Blagojevich is sleazy and dishonest. Trump is sleazy and dishonest. So there’s that. But it makes sense that Trump can use him as a Democrat to point at. It makes me wonder if he’s got a particular and important person in mind who he really wants to pardon. ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/12 "2018-06-01T19:45:03Z")
“Everything he’s saying’s on the teleprompter. I’m blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where he lived. I saw it all growing up.” - Rod Blagojevich ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/13 "2018-06-01T19:48:28Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > It makes me wonder if he’s got a particular and important person in mind who he really wants to pardon. Probably. As Griffin suggested: Kushner, Manafort, Trump Jr. Or Cohen, Flynn, etc. ---
**Author:** ![UnwittingAmericans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@UnwittingAmericans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwittingAmericans)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/14 "2018-06-01T20:07:35Z")
Trump’s guilty of the same things as anybody he ends up pardoning or lets out. Arpaio - contempt of court Libby - perjury D’Souza - campaign finance Johnson - Mann Act Stewart - obstruction plus probably he thinks she’ll fuck him, who fuckin’ knows Blago - has the bonus of having had his appeal denied by the Supreme Court Trump isn’t going to go in voluntarily to talk to Mueller. Mueller may not even need to talk to Trump. If Mueller says he doesn’t need to talk to Trump, Trump will immediately fire Rosenstein and Sessions and put in Bork II to fire Mueller. If Mueller subpoenas Trump, Trump will fail to comply, Mueller will sue, it will end up in the Supreme Court, SCOTUS will rule he has to comply, and he’ll refuse. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/15 "2018-06-01T20:37:12Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Probably some combination of: > > “Hey, those of you thinking of flipping to avoid jail time, don’t do it, I’ll bail you out with a pardon.” > > And: > > “Hey, you didn’t complain when I pardoned the Democrat Blago, why are complaining now that I’m pardoning \. You’re just being partisan.” > > For the record, I hope he doesn’t pardon Blago, and I don’t think he should have pardon D’Felon, nor do I think Clinton should have pardoned Rich. Personally, I hate the pardon power – it’s treating the president like a king. Ever since I was really aware of it with the Rich pardon, I thought it should be removed from the constitution. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I think this is it. It costs Trump nothing to hand out pardons. By throwing one to a Democrat, he’s trying to mute criticism for all of the ones he’s been giving to conservatives. Trump doesn’t give a shit about that. No need to look for Mastermind type explanations when the simple fact is he’s using the presidency to further his personal goals, and in this case it’s helping out some of his friends. ---
**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/16 "2018-06-01T20:40:30Z")
Hmmmm. If someone gets pardoned for something Trump hasn’t done, maybe that should be considered his admission that he actually has - or is about to. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/17 "2018-06-01T20:42:41Z")
John Mace, you’re probably right. I didn’t know Blagojevich was on the Apprentice. He’s just giving a buddy a break, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/18 "2018-06-01T20:52:53Z")
[quote=“Akaj, post:1, topic:815275”] [li]He thinks he’ll gain sympathy from Democrats[/li][/QUOTE] There was no “Blago was the victim of a witch hunt” sentiment among Democrats. Not even Chicago Democrats. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/19 "2018-06-01T20:55:49Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > John Mace, you’re probably right. I didn’t know Blagojevich was on the Apprentice. He’s just giving a buddy a break, I guess. Especially since he’s throwing out Martha Stewart’s name, too. She claims she’s a Democrat, btw. I have no idea if it’s true or not, but have no reason to doubt her. Well, other than her being a convicted felon, that is. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2018, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275/20 "2018-06-01T21:07:22Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > There was no “Blago was the victim of a witch hunt” sentiment among Democrats. > > Not even Chicago Democrats. Of course not, but Trump might just be so dense he doesn’t realize that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/commute-blagojevichs-sentence-what-is-trump-thinking/815275.md?page=2)