Mark Vargas is a political strategist, media personality, and Editor-in-Chief of Illinois Review — the state’s leading source for conservative news and opinion.

A former civilian official in the Office of the Secretary of War, he served on a special task force in Iraq from 2007 to 2010, completing 14 missions to Baghdad and earning the Secretary of Defense Global War on Terrorism Civilian Service Medal.

Vargas was credited by The Wall Street Journal for engineering the successful clemency campaign for former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and later played a key role in securing clemency for longtime Trump ally Roger Stone.

He is also a columnist for Newsmax and previously co-hosted The StoneZONE with Roger Stone.