GOP legislators voice concerns about pardon of former governor

The entire Illinois Republican Party delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives has sent a letter to President Donald Trump sharing their concerns over White House talks of pardoning and/or commuting the sentence on former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. 

U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., was among the seven GOP legislators who sent the letter, which was dated June 11.

After sending the letter, Bost released a statement on the matter.

“I served on Illinois’ House committee to impeach Governor Blagojevich and I believe that he received the sentence he deserved,” Bost said. 

“He violated the public trust and is an example of the absolute worst about politics. Granting clemency to Rod Blagojevich could set a very bad precedent regarding public corruption.”

In the letter, the legislators said they had written “a unified message” to the president regarding his “recent comments contemplating the pardon and/or commutation” of Blagojevich’s sentence.

The legislators said that the facts of the former governor’s case “show a much larger problem and underlying pattern of public corruption” which culminated in what they said was “the ultimate act of public corruption: attempting to sell a United States Senate seat.”

“While we understand that, as president, you have the privilege and right under our Constitution to grant pardons and clemency as you determine fit, we ask that you consider very carefully the precedent this may set and the impact it will have on acts of public corruption in the future,” the legislators wrote.

“As you well know, the integrity of our democracy and the core of American values depend on our elected officials being honest in upholding the trust given to them by the American people.

“Granting clemency to Rod Blagojevich would go against this trust.”