Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich stands to receive a full pardon from President Donald Trump today, sourced from an inside individual not cleared for public discourse. The Axios news outlet was the first to report the possibility of Blagojevich's pardon earlier the same day, an act that would follow Trump commuting the Democratic politician's 14-year sentence back during his initial presidential term, as reported by KGET. Blagojevich, who has a history with Trump that predates his governance issues, being a former contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice," had served eight years of the sentence before Trump's intervention.

Blagojevich’s criminal conviction in 2011 stemmed from various charges of political corruption, including attempts to sell former President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat. Despite the severity of his sentenced crime, Trump has previously equated the former governor's legal tribulations to his own under the Mueller investigation. Patrick Fitzgerald, the prosecutor in the Blagojevich case, also represented James Comey, who Trump had removed from his FBI director position in 2017, another intersectional point of note between the former president and Blagojevich,

Adding fuel to the speculation, ABC7 has been verifying reports that Blagojevich may be earmarked for a role within the Trump administration. It's been floated by Politico that an ambassadorship to Serbia could be in play for Blagojevich, who was actually in Serbia for a meeting with its president just days ago. However, Blagojevich has maintained a cryptic stance publicly, stating on social media, "I'm not asking President Trump for anything," as conveyed by ABC7 Chicago.