Rod Blagojevich maintains his innocence, thanks President Trump for commutation
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Rod Blagojevich continues to maintain his innocence after President Donald Trump commuted the former Illinois governor's sentence, releasing him from prison after serving more than seven years behind bars.
Blagojevich went on Fox News Wednesday night to defend himself and claims he was set up by prosecutors and believes they're the same people trying to undermine the president who commuted the former governor's 14-year sentence on Tuesday.
Blagojevich left his home in the Ravenswood Manor neighborhood Wednesday night to come downtown to do the interview after holding a family news conference in front of his home earlier that morning.
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"I broke no laws, I crossed no lines," Blagojevich told Fox News. "They used a standard to convict me that if it was applied to those congressmen and every U.S. senator, the same result would have happened to them as what happened to me. I raised campaign contributions legally and lawfully. I never promised anything or threatened anyone in exchange for campaign contributions."
BLAGOJEVICH THANKS TRUMP FOR 'GIVING DAUGHTERS THEIR FATHER BACK
The Illinois Republican House delegation has said that Blagojevich is the face of public corruption in Illinois and also says not once has he shown remorse for what they call his clear and documented record of egregious crimes.
But Blagojevich continues to say he was a political prisoner.
The former Illinois governor gave his first interview inside his home Wednesday afternoon. He answered some of the ABC7 I-Team's questions, and explained why he is not accepting his corruption conviction.
VIDEO: What is a commutation?
"The conviction was wrong, everything I talked about doing, everything I did was legal and on the right side of the line," he said.
At the end of the interview, he gave one final shout out to the president who gave him freedom.
"Hey, God bless President Trump," Blagojevich said. "I owe that, I owe the president. Thank you. Thank you."
WATCH: Timeline of Rod Blagojevich corruption case
During the interview he invoked numerous historical names, as he enjoys doing, and quoted famous people to relate to his own situation, including Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the biblical figure of Joseph.
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