11 February—Donald Trump’s pardon of Rod Blagojevich yesterday wasn’t unexpected, since they’re dirty birds of a feather. (No insult to dirty birds intended. And not that Blago—as he’s known—and even Trump haven’t done some un-bad things in their checkered political careers.) Blago is the Democrat lawyer noted for his extravagant wardrobe and distinctive coif who served as an Illinois state representative, congressman, and governor.

You may recall that in 2008 Gov. Blago was arrested on federal corruption charges, including that he had tried to sell gubernatorial authorizations, vetoes, and appointments—the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama when he sidled to the White House among the lucrative appointments. Four-figure neckties and five-figure suits drive pols to extreme measures, after all.

Blago was taped by the FBI saying, “I’ve got this thing, and it’s fucking golden. I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing.” (The feds obviously got him for the double negative.)

So after being arrested by the feds, Blago was naturally impeached by a 114-1 vote with three abstentions in the totally spotless Illinois House of Representatives for abuse of power and corruption; and convicted by the squeaky clean Illinois Senate by two separate and unanimous votes of 59-0. Blago was thus removed from office and prohibited from ever holding public office again. In Illinois. As we’ve seen, though, that doesn’t mean he can’t serve as POTUS or hold public office in Connecticut.

Blago was indicted on 24 counts by a federal grand jury in 2009. But after a trial during which his defense didn’t call a single witness, the jury was nevertheless hung on 23 counts and convicted him only for lying to the FBI. (But isn’t it only natural to lie in your own defense. Problem is, criminal law has you coming and going.) So a mistrial was ordered, the feds cut out four charges, and in 2011 Blago was found guilty on 17 counts including extortion and all the ones pertaining to Obama’s Senate seat, not guilty on one, and no verdict on two. He reported to the federal slammer in Colorado in 2012 to serve 14 years.

Blago would have been eligible for early release in March 2024 had Trump not commuted his minimum-security sentence in January 2020, which sprung him immediately. And now, with Trump’s latest pardon, Blago is pure as the driven snow. Just like Trump. As Trump signed Blago’s pardon, in fact, the good samaritan-in-chief commented, “He was set up by a lot of bad people, some of the same people I had to deal with.”

And Blago: “I’ll always be profoundly grateful to President Trump for everything he’s done for me and my family. It’s everlasting gratitude. He’s a great guy.” And he also has a distinctive coif . . .