Rod Blagojevich is promoting Framed, F*cked, and Freed just over two weeks before the memoir’s publication. In an October interview at the Warbler on Chicago’s North Side, the former Illinois governor said he has nothing to hide and repeated that he was framed.
He also said, "I feel like I got cheated." Blagojevich was convicted on 17 criminal counts of corruption in 2011, and his legal fight has remained tied to the same case that sent him to prison almost eight years before Donald Trump freed him in February 2020.
Warbler interview with Patti
Blagojevich and Patti were sitting at the bar of the Warbler during the interview, and he said they have been married for 36 years. He said he still thinks about getting back into politics and added, "Yes, I do. Of course."
He also said, "I’d like to change my obituary," and explained that the line from the FBI wiretap still follows him: "because if I die today, ‘This is fucking gold and I’m not giving it up for fucking nothing’ is gonna be in there. I’m stuck with that."
November 2008 wiretap
In November 2008, Blagojevich was caught on an FBI wiretap seemingly making plans to profit from Barack Obama’s recently vacated U.S. Senate seat. He said, "I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden," and then, "I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing."
Blagojevich said Michael Madigan rushed to impeach him, and that impeachment ensured he could never hold state-level office again no matter how his legal case ended. His conviction for trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat was overturned in 2015, but a separate charge for seeking campaign contributions in exchange for approving funding for a children’s hospital was upheld.
Blagojevich and Patti
After Trump freed him in February 2020, Blagojevich said, "You get me out of jail, you get my vote." He now has his own lobbying firm, with Milorad Dodik among its clients, and he said he became an avid Bible reader in prison.
The memoir release puts Blagojevich back in public view while he keeps pressing the same argument about his case. The book reaches readers after years of legal damage, and his own words suggest he still wants the last chapter rewritten.
