President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had commuted the sentence of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois.

Blagojevich has been in federal prison for eight years. He was convicted of corruption charges linked to an effort to sell Barack Obama's vacant US Senate seat.

Trump had been publicly mulling commuting Blagojevich's sentencing as the disgraced governor's wife made appeals to the president via Fox News.

"I saw his wife on television," Trump told reporters on Tuesday as he announced the decision to commute Blagojevich's sentence.

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President Donald Trump has commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the disgraced former Illinois governor who has been in federal prison for eight years.

"Yes, we commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich," Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

The ex-governor was serving a 14-year sentence for corruption linked to his efforts to sell the US Senate seat that Barack Obama vacated to become president. Blagojevich was seeking campaign contributions in exchange for making an appointment for Obama's vacant seat. In 2011, Blagojevich was convicted on 17 corruption-related charges.

Trump commuted Blagojevich's sentence on Tuesday and announced the decision in the afternoon before boarding Air Force One.

Trump had previously signaled he was considering commuting Blagojevich's sentence. The president last August said Blagojevich, a Democrat whom he once fired as a contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice," had been treated "unbelievably unfairly."

Around that time, Trump tweeted: "Rod Blagojevich, the former Governor of Illinois, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. He has served 7 years. Many people have asked that I study the possibility of commuting his sentence in that it was a very severe one. White House staff is continuing the review of this matter."

Blagojevich's lawyers filed paperwork in 2018 asking Trump to commute his sentence. Meanwhile, Blagojevich's wife, Patti, has repeatedly appeared on Fox News to appeal to Trump. In the process, she's criticized people who've often been the target of the president's ire, including James Comey and Robert Mueller.

Trump controversially fired Comey as the FBI director in 2017 as he was leading the bureau's investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 US election and whether Trump's campaign coordinated with Moscow. Mueller was subsequently appointed the special counsel and took over the Russia investigation, which last year concluded that Trump's campaign welcomed Russia's election interference but did not find sufficient evidence to bring conspiracy charges.

Trump offered inconsistent reasons for Comey's ouster, but in May 2017 he told NBC's Lester Holt that the Russia investigation factored into the decision.

As Trump announced that he would exercise his clemency powers on Blagojevich's behalf, he told reporters, "I saw his wife on television."

Congressional Republicans from Illinois on Tuesday afternoon condemned Trump's decision to commute Blagojevich's sentence, after previously signaling they opposed such a move.

"Blagojevich is the face of public corruption in Illinois, and not once has he shown any remorse for his clear and documented record of egregious crimes that undermined the trust placed in him by voters," Illinois House Republican delegation said in a statement.