Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich told Newsmax TV on Thursday that he was shocked when the media turned on him after he was charged with trying to sell former President Barack Obama’s senate seat.
The former governor was sentenced to 14 years and served nearly 8 in prison on corruption charges. Blagojevich's sentence was recently commuted by President Donald Trump. He and his wife, Patti, appear on an episode of a new Netflix series “Trial By Media.”
“It was shocking to me because the allegations were super sensational and they were fake,” Rod Blagojevich told “Newsmax Now” host John Bachman about the media’s portrayal of him leading up to and during his trial.
He said he thought he would be able to turn to the media and use it as a way to share his side of the story.
“I thought the media would be one of the ways I would be vindicated,” he said.
He said he thought the media would see how “preposterous” the allegations against him were.
But Patti Blagojevich said the media’s coverage of the trial contributed to her husband not receiving a fair trial.
“There was no way we could get a fair trial in our jurisdiction because of the media hype,” she said.
And while the media may have swayed a juror one way or another, she said it was the court system that was totally rigged.
“In many ways the case against us was rigged from the very beginning,” she said. “The judge in the case was just like the fifth prosecutor in the room. The game was rigged against us from the very beginning with the judge and prosecutors we got.”
She said she stood by her husband’s side throughout the trial and his prison sentences because she knew how “unjust and unfair” the prosecution was.
“I knew his heart and I knew his thought process,” she said. “I know how unfair it was.”
The couple will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary in August. Their Thursday appearance on Newsmax TV was their first joint interview since 2009.
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