The names of lobbying clients that Sen. Roland W. Burris declared to a state legislative panel do not match those on records he filed over the last decade with Illinois and Chicago agencies, a CQ analysis of the records has found.That was Durbin's way of saying "see ya!"
The discovery comes as Burris, an Illinois Democrat, is fending off calls for his resignation for failing to fully explain his dealings with impeached former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who appointed him to succeed President Obama. The Senate Ethics Committee also is looking into discrepancies in his statements to the Illinois House Impeachment Committee.
Majority Whip Richard J. Durbin , a fellow Illinois Democrat, suggested that the Ethics Committee should also probe Burris’ lobbying activities.
“Every day there are more and more revelations about contacts with Blagojevich advisors, efforts at fundraising and omissions from his list of lobbying clients,” Durbin said in a statement from Turkey, where he is on a congressional trip. “These news reports and the public statements by Roland Burris himself are troubling and raise serious questions which need to be looked at very carefully.”
Something in my gut screamed "crony appointment" when Burris accepted the job. As I wrote at the time, what kind of decent, ethical human being would accept an appointment from someone like Blagojevich? Now, it seems, we may have the answer.
And let me add a "told you so" to the Dems and to the administration, who suddenly went from anti-Burris to Burris-loving, all in the matter of a week. Had the Democrats held their ground, they'd now be able to hold their heads high.
