By Illinois Review
On Wednesday, during an appearance on Newsmax, former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich suggested that Gov. JB Pritzker – a licensed Illinois attorney, could face disciplinary action from the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC) after the Democratic governor falsely and repeatedly referred to Trump as an “adjudicated rapist.”
“He’s a lawyer. He’s a licensed attorney. And lawyers have a responsibility as officers of the court, even in the public square, to be truthful and honest,” said Blagojevich during his interview with Newsmax host Greg Kelly. “When you say something like that, calling somebody a rapist when you know that he’s not, and you happen to be a lawyer, you’re actually running the risk of losing your law license.”
The Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission regulates the admission and discipline of lawyers in Illinois, and as the former governor warned on Wednesday, “Pritzker ought to be careful because the voters of Illinois, and maybe people all across the country, could start filing attorney registration disciplinary complaints against him.”
Last Friday, ABC News agreed to a multi-million dollar settlement and agreed to contribute $15 million to President-elect Donald Trump’s presidential foundation and museum to settle a defamation lawsuit filed by Trump and his legal team against the network.
During a March 10 interview, ABC’s George Stephanopolous, who was interviewing U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-SC, falsely claimed that Trump had been found “liable for rape,” when in fact he wasn’t – and the Trump legal team easily pointed out that Stephanopolous’ statement was completely false. And as a result, the news organization quickly agreed to a settlement to avoid any more embarrassing legal trouble.
Since June, Pritzker has repeatedly and consistently referred to Trump as a “rapist” – despite the assertion being totally false and an outright lie. On June 3, 2024, in an MSNBC interview with former Biden White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, Pritzker – on national television – called Trump an “adjudicated rapist.” A month later on July 31, Pritzker once again posted on X, referring to Trump as a “racist” and “adjudicated rapist.”
Earlier in the week, Blagojevich went on social media, writing, “Now that Trump successfully won his defamation case against ABC for calling him a “rapist,” when will he sue Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker for repeatedly lying & calling him the same thing?”
Longtime Trump advisor Roger Stone also weighed in, posting on his X account with a link to the original story, “President Trump should sue billionaire Governor JD Pritzker who falsely called him a rapist. The video clips are all here.”
So far, Pritzker has declined to offer any comments.
