President Trump said last week he was thinking "very strongly" about commuting the prison sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But now, he may have already stopped looking.
Trump "appears to have backed off" the idea after pushback from Republicans and after Reps. Darin LaHood (R-Ill.) and Mike Bost (R-Ill.) met with him directly, CNN reports. According to the report, LaHood and Bost "laid out the litany of crimes" committed by Blagojevich, who was recorded discussing plans to sell a Senate seat.
The president previously referred to this tape as "a phone call where nothing happens" while arguing that Blagojevich was treated "unbelievably unfairly." But Bost told CNN that after he walked through Blagojevich's various crimes and argued that commuting him would send the wrong message, Trump said, "I wish I had the perspective before." While discussing Blagojevich, Trump reportedly "did not seem aware of the details of Blagojevich's case," CNN writes.
One White House official told CNN that there hasn't been any progress on the issue since last week, and one said it "appeared to be on ice." Trump had already signaled he could be backing away from the idea after changing his description of it from something he's considering "strongly" to something that White House staff is "continuing" its "review" of, The New York Times noted.
Another White House official objected to this and told CNN there is "no pumping the brakes" happening here, but it sounds like it would not be surprising if following this GOP backlash, the Blagojevich issue is one Trump simply never mentions again.