The flamboyant former Illinois governor whose 14-year prison sentence for corruption was commuted by President Trump wants to go back to where political life came to a screeching halt. The I-Team has learned that Blagojevich will return to the Dirksen federal courthouse in Chicago where he'll launch a lawsuit against the state alleging that his impeachment and ban from running for statewide office were unconstitutional.
It's a suit that may make it difficult for Blagojevich to pursue his interest in criminal justice reform. The 63-year-old was arrested in 2008 in an expansive corruption probe that led to his impeachment and conviction, ending his career as a politician who rose from blue-collar roots to become a teacher, state senator, congressman and governor.
Blagojevich's lawsuit will argue that he was denied due process during his impeachment and senate trial because he wasn't allowed to call witnesses or play the voluminous FBI undercover recordings that were used against him. The lawsuit also says the state violated his right to equal protection under the law when it barred him from seeking statewide offices after he was removed from office in 2009.
The move comes days after the former governor returned home from prison and greeted well-wishers at O'Hare Airport and his home in Chicago's Ravenswood Manor. It injected the once-tough politician, now sporting a mop of white hair and a beard, into a state that had learned for eight years how to get along without him.
