President Donald Trump’s perception of the world seems to revolve around, well, himself. This week, he abruptly issued a commutation of the prison sentence for former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who’d been charged on a slew of corruption charges including over his attempt to essentially sell Barack Obama’s own then-recently vacated Senate seat. On Wednesday, the day after he signed off on allowing the former governor to walk free four years ahead of schedule, Trump defended his move by issuing a wild Twitter proclamation of some supposed conspiracy against Blagojevich, which he tied to the also completely nonexistent conspiracy against himself that he’s alleged has driven the Russia investigation and related probes.
Maybe when he wakes up in the morning and doesn’t like the weather, he blames that on Comey too. This time, Trump tweeted:
‘Rod Blagojevich did not sell the Senate seat. He served 8 years in prison, with many remaining. He paid a big price. Another Comey and gang deal! Thank you to @LisaMarieBoothe who really “gets” what’s going on! @FoxNews’
Rod Blagojevich did not sell the Senate seat. He served 8 years in prison, with many remaining. He paid a big price. Another Comey and gang deal! Thank you to @LisaMarieBoothe who really “gets” what’s going on! @FoxNews
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 19, 2020
Trump’s comments came around the same time that Blagojevich held a brief press conference at his Chicago residence, where he proclaimed himself a “Trumpocrat” (he is a Democrat) and lavished praise on Trump. Evidently, Trump was listening — although he first met the former governor years ago, when he appeared on Trump’s reality television show The Apprentice.
The connection to former FBI Director James Comey is that the U.S. Attorney who brought the case against Blagojevich eventually served as a personal lawyer for Comey. Yes, it’s correct that the then-governor didn’t actually successfully sell Obama’s Senate seat, but that’s because he got caught! Trump has actually used the same attempted defense for himself, insisting that without underlying criminal activity, there can’t be a reasonably charged offense of obstruction of justice — but that, simply, is not true.
Check out Twitter’s response:
