Twice-convicted Republican Gov. John G. Rowland has been pardoned by President Donald Trump, prompting Rowland to describe the end of his political journey as “a wonderful final resolution.”
Rowland’s possible pardon had been rumored in political circles recently, but it did not become official until Wednesday.
In an email to The Courant, Rowland wrote : “I am deeply humbled and appreciative. I have been blessed with a wonderful family and friends that have been through a great deal over the years. This is a wonderful final resolution.”
Word spread quickly late Wednesday afternoon at the state Capitol in Hartford, where longtime Rowland loyalists and members of his administration have since become lobbyists. Seven lobbyists declined to comment, saying they wanted to remain low-key.
Stan Godlewski / Special to the Courant
Former Connecticut Governor John Rowland received a pardon Wednesday from President Donald J. Trump. Here, he leaves federal court in New Haven in 2014 after the first day of his trial.
A once-rising star, Rowland ranked among the top politicians in Connecticut over the past 40 years. He won three elections as governor – a difficult feat that has rarely happened. Rowland became the first Connecticut governor to be elected to three four-year terms in more than 200 years. Some of the biggest names in Connecticut political history did not win three terms as governor, including Abe Ribicoff, Ella Grasso, and Lowell P. Weicker. As a Republican in a blue state, Rowland reached across the aisle at his political peak.
But Rowland suffered a huge political downfall – saying that it seemed that he was sleeping in the famed Lincoln bedroom at the White House during the administration of President George W. Bush one day and then soon after was waiting in line for toilet paper with fellow inmates at prison.
As chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Rowland was also personal friends with both President George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, along with First Lady Barbara Bush. His name was bandied about for cabinet positions as his fellow Republican governors accepted similar positions in the Bush administration. The friendship with the Bush family dated back to Rowland’s early endorsement of George H.W. Bush when he was running for president.
But Rowland eventually went to federal prison twice in the biggest fall for a Connecticut politician in decades. He was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after being convicted in a campaign finance fraud case involving a Congressional candidate.
Legislators who served with Rowland said they were surprised how far Rowland had fallen.
Former state Rep. Michael P. Lawlor, a Democratic attorney who served on the impeachment committee before Rowland’s resignation in 2004, on Wednesday criticized both Rowland and Trump.
“John Rowland left an indelible stain on our state and its government,” Lawlor told The Courant. “Donald Trump is the least credible person in the country to remove it.”
Insiders said the pardon could not erase the public’s memory of Rowland’s past convictions. In the first case, Rowland resigned from office amid an FBI investigation of members of his administration, including co-chief of staff Peter Ellef. Rowland later pleaded guilty in federal court to one felony count of conspiracy to commit theft of honest services and tax fraud for accepting more than $100,000 in gifts from contractors and business executives and failing to pay taxes on them.
Rowland was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison, and he was released in February 2006 after serving about 10 months.
In the second case, he was indicted for five felonies and two misdemeanors in a campaign finance case involving Lisa Wilson Foley of Simsbury, who lost a Republican primary in the 5th Congressional district in August 2012. Rowland was found guilty on all seven counts by a federal jury after a nearly three-week trial.
Deputy House Speaker Robert Godfrey of Danbury noted at the time of Rowland’s second sentencing that he had seen politicians go to prison during his decades years in the legislature that spans the terms of multiple governors.
“There’s something about politicians who have too much of a sense of importance and that the rules don’t apply to me,” Godfrey said at the time. “That’s John Rowland’s problem. That’s Ernie Newton’s problem. That’s the former mayor of Bridgeport’s problem.”
On Rowland’s case, Godfrey said, “It’s almost a Greek tragedy. It really is. … He blew it all on a hot tub and a couple of contracts.”
Former state Rep. Chris DePino, who raised millions of dollars as the Republican state chairman during the Rowland years, said at the time of the sentencing that Rowland’s accomplishments should not be forgotten.
“It would be good for folks to reflect on all the good the man has done and how he improved lives when he was governor of Connecticut,” DePino said. “That is the testament to the man I know.”
In November 1994, the newly elected governor, John G. Rowland, waves with his running mate, Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell, at the Sheraton hotel in Waterbury – a gathering spot for Republicans. Rowland attended the funeral at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford after Rell died in November 2024. Courant photo)
Rowland’s resignation led to a new era in Connecticut politics as Lt. Gov. M. Jodi Rell took the reigns of a state that was being criticized as “Corrupticut.” Besides Rowland, a series of top officials went to prison, including then-state treasurer Paul Silvester.
Under Rell, various political reforms were enacted in the post-Rowland era, including public financing of campaigns for governor and state legislature.
Kevin B. Sullivan, the former president pro tempore of the state Senate, was elevated to become lieutenant governor under Rell when Rowland stepped down in 2004.
“There are some folks who, like moths, need to fly so close to the flames that they get burned,” Sullivan said after Rowland’s second conviction. “You were the governor of the state of Connecticut, you threw that away. You got a second chance … Why would you do this? Why would you blow that away for seemingly so little?”
Christopher Keating can be reached at ckeating@courant.com