US President commutes Blagojevich's sentence

US President Donald Trump has commuted the prison sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor convicted of trying to sell Barack Obama's vacated US Senate seat.

The US President on Tuesday wielded his powers of clemency for convicted white-collar criminals.

The state's House Republican delegation said in a statement: "Blagojevich is the face of public corruption in Illinois and not once has he shown any remorse."

Trump announced on Tuesday that he had commuted the prison sentence of Blagojevich, a Democrat who has served eight years of a 14-year sentence over the pay-for-play charges. The US President had been weighing the move since at least 2018, CNN reported.

"He served eight years in jail, a long time. He seems like a very nice person, don't know him," Trump told reporters.