Starting in December 2008, a federal investigation and trial found Blagojevich guilty of public corruption after he attempted to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama upon his election to the presidency.

He later said of the experience: "I went to law school at a place called Pepperdine in Malibu, California, overlooking the Pacific Ocean — a lot of surfing and movie stars and all the rest.

In the late 1990s, he traveled with Jesse Jackson to Belgrade in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to negotiate with President Slobodan Milošević for the release of American prisoners of war.

[38] By early 2006, five Republicans campaigned in the primary for the right to challenge him in the general election, with state treasurer Judy Baar Topinka eventually winning the nomination.

[41] A three-term state treasurer, Topinka said that she had attempted to stop Blagojevich from using money from special funds for general expenditures without approval of the legislature; she said Blagojevich used the funds for projects meant to distract voters from his associates' corruption trials: "This constant giving away of money ... a million here, a million there, it raids our already hamstrung government and deadbeat state.

Democratic legislator Jack Franks said that the reason Blagojevich had problems passing laws with the cooperation of the General Assembly is that he did not spend enough time with the legislature.

"[59] When lawmakers working on a budget during a special session met at 10 am rather than 2 pm, and Blagojevich's attorney threatened that the Governor was considering legal action against the involved representatives, Democratic Rep. Joe Lyons told reporters, "We have a madman.

[64] During early February 2006, Blagojevich appeared on The Daily Show to discuss the governor's executive order that pharmacists must dispense any drugs for which a customer had a valid prescription, including birth control pills and Plan B.

[74] During a suspected shortage of the flu vaccine in 2004, Blagojevich ordered 260,000 doses from overseas distributors, which the Food and Drug Administration had warned would be barred from entering the United States.

[75] Although the vaccine doses had cost the state $2.6 million, the FDA refused to allow them into the country, and a buyer could not be found; they were donated to earthquake survivors in Pakistan a year later.

[76] Also in 2004, Blagojevich's plans to set up a website for Illinois residents to import medication from Canada and the United Kingdom was blocked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

[77] Blagojevich issued an executive order during 2004 requiring pharmacists in the state to dispense "morning-after" birth control, even if they object on moral or religious grounds.

[81] Signed into law by Blagojevich in November 2005, All Kids made Illinois the first state in the U.S. to attempt to legally require itself to provide universal affordable and comprehensive healthcare for children, regardless of income and immigration status.

Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan called for a vote on a non-binding resolution on whether the state should impose a gross receipts tax.

Blagojevich said the biggest U.S. retail bank would not get any more state business unless it restored credit to Republic Windows and Doors, whose workers were staging a sit-in.

Blagojevich summarized his reasons for considering Winfrey on various talk shows: To begin with, she was perhaps the most instrumental person in electing Barack Obama president.

I think she is up there with Will Rogers and Bob Hope and some of our great public personalities of the last century.Lynn Sweet of the Chicago Sun Times agreed with Matthews, writing Winfrey would be "terrific" and an "enormously popular pick".

[105][106] After the Justice Department complaint was made public, Blagojevich's hairstyle became the subject of discussion and jokes for national and local media personalities.

The Justice Department complaint alleged that the governor conspired to commit several "pay to play" schemes, including attempting "to obtain personal gain ... through the corrupt use" of his authority to fill the United States Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama following his election as president, claiming that in wiretapped recordings Blagojevich discussed his desire to get something in exchange for an appointment to the seat.

[108] A trial was set for June 3, 2010,[109] and U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald spoke out on the charges,[110] characterizing Blagojevich's actions as trying to auction the open seat off to "the highest bidder".

During the two-day campaign, he visited Today, Good Morning America, The Early Show, The View, multiple programs on Fox News Channel, CNN and MSNBC where he proclaimed his innocence and insisted he would be vindicated.

[118][119] He told an interviewer he found it difficult to watch his wife eat a dead tarantula on the broadcast, but remarked that her willingness to participate in the show was "an act of love" because she was earning funds to alleviate their adverse financial position.

[121] On June 30, 2009, Blagojevich's autobiography The Governor: The Truth Behind the Political Scandal That Continues to Rock the Nation[122] was announced for print release on September 8, 2009.

Comic fandom website Bleeding Cool reported that Blagojevich had met with a mostly positive reception, while Time Out Chicago described it as mixed.

[136] He was found guilty on all charges pertaining to the Senate seat, as well as extortion relating to state funds being directed towards a children's hospital and race track.

[143] While in the federal penitentiary, Blagojevich was the lead singer for a prison band called "The Jailhouse Rockers", named after an Elvis Presley song.

[144] He was the fourth Illinois governor to serve time in federal prison, after Otto Kerner Jr., Dan Walker (post-governorship criminal activity), and George Ryan (crimes starting during his prior service as Secretary of State).

He has also long contended that there was critical evidence the jury never heard, including witness testimony and recorded phone calls that Judge Zagel did not allow to be played during the trial.

[170] In August of the same year, it was announced that Blagojevich would be the featured speaker at a fundraising event to benefit Republican state senate candidate Tom McCullagh.

The candidate's campaign stated that "McCullagh is welcoming [Blagojevich] to the table to give us an inside look to help understand the depths of the Madigan machine and how to end corruption in Illinois."[171].