Former Ald. Ed Burke is pictured in a file photo. (WTTW News)
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When former Chicago alderperson Ed Burke was convicted on racketeering, bribery and extortion charges, he became the latest Illinois politician and powerbroker to face accusations of corruption — but he’s far from the first in recent years.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich talks about his criminal complaint outside the Dirksen Federal Building on Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. (WTTW News)

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Illinois’ only governor to be impeached and removed from office, was back at the Dirksen federal courthouse on Monday, but this time it was on his own volition — rather than as a defendant in criminal proceedings.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to the media on Feb. 19, 2020, a day after his 14-year sentence was cut short by President Donald Trump. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News)

The Illinois Supreme Court officially disbarred former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Monday, two months after a state panel recommended that the disgraced politician lose his law license. 

Mark Vargas appears on “Chicago Tonight” on Feb. 27, 2020. (WTTW News)

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich referred to Mark Vargas as the “mystery man” that led the effort to get him out of prison. But who is he? And why did he want to take on that case?

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich is boisterous and unrepentant as he returns home, singing the praises of President Trump. Meanwhile, Gov. J.B. Pritzker pushes a progressive tax in his budget address.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich acknowledges Chicago Cubs’ fan Ronnie Woo Woo after a news conference outside his home Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, in Chicago. (AP Photo / Charles Rex Arbogast)

Fresh out of prison thanks to a commutation this week from President Donald Trump, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is in the hunt for a post-prison career. 

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to the media after his 14-year sentence was cut short by President Donald Trump. At right is Mark A. Vargas. (Matt Masterson / WTTW News)

Lost in the hoopla of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s homecoming speech Wednesday was a nod he gave to the mild-mannered man standing nearby. So, who is Mark A. Vargas? Our politics team digs into that and more.

A banner on the Chicago home of Rod Blagojevich thanks President Donald Trump for commuting the former governor’s 14-year prison sentence. (WTTW News)

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich celebrated his homecoming Wednesday with a media spectacle at his North Side home. But public sentiment about his early release from prison is divided.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to the media on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020. (WTTW News)
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Speaking to a throng of reporters from his North Side home, the impeached former governor expressed his appreciation for President Trump and his efforts to fix “a broken criminal justice system.”

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich shakes hands with a supporter as he arrives home in Chicago on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020, after his release from Colorado prison late Tuesday. (AP Photo / Paul Beaty)

Rod Blagojevich returned home to Chicago early Wednesday, shaking hands and signing autographs after President Donald Trump cut short his 14-year prison sentence.

President Donald Trump talks to the media before he boards Air Force One for a trip to Los Angeles to attend a campaign fundraiser, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2020, at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump has gone on a clemency blitz, commuting what he called a “ridiculous” 14-year prison sentence for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and pardoning former New York Police Department commissioner, among a long list of others.

Courtroom sketch by Thomas Gianni, 2011. (WTTW News)

President Donald Trump’s commutation of Rod Blagojevich’s 14-year sentence ends a corruption saga that has been both notorious and bizarre.

In this March 14, 2012, file photo, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to the media outside his home in Chicago as his wife, Patti, wipes away tears a day before reporting to prison after his conviction on corruption charges. (AP Photo / M. Spencer Green, File)
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President Donald Trump, who had previously floated the idea of using his powers to help the disgraced former governor, commuted the 14-year sentence Tuesday. In making that move, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Trump “abused” his pardon power.

In this March 15, 2012 file photo, former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich departs his Chicago home for Littleton, Colorado, to begin his 14-year prison sentence on corruption charges. (AP Photo / Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

Imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich argued in a column that fellow Democrats in the U.S. House who impeached President Donald Trump also would have tried to remove Abraham Lincoln.

President Donald Trump departs O’Hare International Airport after speaking at the International Association of Chiefs of Police Annual Conference and Exposition, Monday, Oct. 28, 2019, in Chicago. (AP Photo / Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump has again broached the idea of freeing former Illinois governor and one-time “Celebrity Apprentice” contestant Rod Blagojevich from a Colorado federal prison, where he is in his seventh year of a 14-year prison term for political corruption.

President Trump once again dangles a commutation for Rod Blagojevich. Mayor Lightfoot spars with judges on gun violence. And optimism surrounds the Bears at their first preseason game.