No, Trump Didn't Commute Blagojevich's Sentence — He Issued a Full Pardon

The claim that Trump commuted Rod Blagojevich's sentence is false. What Trump actually did on February 18, 2020 was grant Blagojevich a full pardon — a meaningfully different legal action with bigger consequences for Blagojevich's record and rights.

The distinction matters. According to the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney, a commutation only reduces a sentence while leaving the underlying conviction intact. A pardon, by contrast, forgives the offense entirely and restores civil rights. Blagojevich, who had served about eight years of a 14-year sentence for corruption — including attempting to sell Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat — walked free with his conviction wiped clean, not merely his sentence shortened.

Both Reuters and the Associated Press reported at the time that Trump issued a pardon, and the official White House records confirm it. This is not a close call. The legal paperwork is unambiguous.

So where did the confusion come from? PolitiFact found that Trump himself used the word 'commutation' loosely in public remarks around the time of the announcement. When the person taking the action mislabels it, the error spreads fast and wide.

This kind of mix-up is worth watching for because the pardon versus commutation distinction carries real weight. A commuted sentence still leaves someone a convicted felon. A pardon does not. Getting it wrong understates what actually happened. When officials use imprecise language about their own actions, always check the official record.