Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) is planning a public relations offensive to counter growing concerns about whether he lied about the circumstances of his appointment to the Senate, and he has no intention of resigning, his advisers said Wednesday.
Rod Blagojevich appears to be on hiatus from his public relations offensive, so maybe his PR firm can get to work Twittering on Burris’ behalf and booking him on every goofy cable TV show in New York. Then again, I think I read somewhere that Drew Peterson’s girlfriend just moved back in so maybe they’re busy.
Lebed, Burris’ former partner in their consulting firm, said today that Burris spoke once “for like 30 seconds” about fundraising for then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who went on to appoint Burris to the Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama.
“I said ‘no way,’” Lebed said.
So, essentially, Fred had to make sure that former Attorney General Roland Burris understood his ethical duties? Sheesh. This gets worse by the minute.
* Meanwhile, it won’t come as a surprise to you that Burris lied again…
As calls for his resignation continue to roll in, U.S. Sen. Roland Burris grew emphatic in his defense today, telling a packed luncheon in Chicago to “stop the rush to judgment.”
“You know the real Roland,” Burris told a City Club of Chicago gathering. “I’ve done nothing wrong, and I have nothing to hide.”
Burris said the issue of his varying sworn testimony before an Illinois House impeachment panel is as explainable as “one, two, three.”
Burris insisted his affidavits didn’t contradict one another, saying he explained to “anyone who would listen” that he wanted the U.S. Senate appointment. [Emphasis added]
His affidavits didn’t contradict each other? Who’s he kidding? Himself?
“No, I did not have conversations about my appointment — I’m talking about actually being appointed — with anyone other than the governor’s attorney.”
It’s impossible to argue with someone who can’t accept basic facts. He said he was interested in the appointment. He made that statement to six people close to the governor. His original sworn affidavit claimed there was “not any contact” between himself or any representatives of the governor “regarding my appointment.”
Burris ought to be ashamed of himself for splitting hairs like this. It might stand up in court, but it certainly shouldn’t be presented to the court of public opinion.
* The Illinois House had a bit of an explosion today over Majority Leader Currie’s failure to inform the impeachment committee that Sen. Burris had submitted a new affidavit for over a week…
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, D-Chicago, tried to diffuse criticism she’s heard in recent days from her role as head of the House impeachment committee that took testimony from Burris in late January.
Currie read a statement where she explained why there was more than a week’s delay in turning over an affidavit Burris provided Feb. 4 updating his testimony to include that he did discuss fundraising with allies of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. […]
Currie said she believed the affidavit included only clarifying testimony and a miscommunication with staff caused a delay in having it sent to other committee members.
“Any suggestion that I engaged in a deliberate cover up, that I purposely delayed distribution of the information is totally false,” Currie said in a statement she read on the House floor Wednesday. “Any suggestion that I should do a better job of reading my mail in a timely fashion is a suggestion I enthusiastically - and more than a little ruefully - embrace.”
The Republicans, as expected, went on a full rampage after Currie’s speech.
* Congressman Phil Hare became the first member of Congress to go all the way…
“I believe it is in the best interest of all Illinoisans that Sen. Burris resigns. Our state and its citizens deserve the whole truth, not bits and pieces only when it is convenient,” Hare said in a statement. […]
“I’m troubled by [Burris’ evolving explanations] because he either has a tremendous lack of memory or he wasn’t being forthright with the committee,” Hare said, referring to the state House Impeachment Committee. “This was pay-to-play with the former governor … I’m done with this whole Blagojevich thing.”
Burris “has been a good public servant for the state for 30 years, but you’ve got to answer questions when you’re under oath,” Hare continued. “What Illinois deserves is a senator they can trust to do the right things, that if they’re asked a question, they answer honestly.”
“We’ve just been through a lot out here, and I thought we’d put this behind us. Anybody that this governor appointed would obviously have problems and would be under suspicion, and here we go again,” Hare added.
You said it, Phil.
State Rep. Lou Lang is another Democrat who has called on Burris to resign, by the way.
* But Bill Daley stops well short of calling for Sen. Roland Burris’ resignation…
DALEY: We’re being defined by terrible situation that Governor Blagojevich created and has left in his wake in spite of his impeachment.
Daley didn’t answer directly whether he thinks Burris should stay in office.
DALEY: I think he should do serious reflection on whether or not he can be effective for the people of Illinois…not for himself.
Yeah, that’ll happen.
…Adding… The Associated Press finds two people in a southern Illinois diner who say some nice things about Roland Burris and the headline reads: Burris getting support from Illinoisans.
* 12:14 pm - Watch Sen. Roland Burris’ City Club address live via CBS2 by clicking here.
The Sun-Times is live-blogging Sen. Burris’ appearance as well.
I have other things to do, so please help others by live-blogging here in comments. Thanks.
* 1:03 pm - I was only paying half attention, but I didn’t hear much new. Same old “Roland Burris is a great guy and you all know it” pablum. Now come the questions.
Asked if all the facts are now out. “They’re out from me,” but he joked that he didn’t know if they were all out.
And it’s over. Burris refused to take questions about specific aspects of the appointment controversy. Pretty much useless.
*** UPDATE 1 *** Here’s Ald. O’Connor’s new cable TV ad which is mentioned below. The campaign claims to have raised $200K in the past couple of weeks and say they’ll be expanding the buy…
*** UPDATE 2 *** A Democratic candidate is getting some very conservative endorsements. From a press release…
National Taxpayers United Illinois (NTUI) announced here today that it is endorsing Cary Capparelli, candidate on the Democratic ballot to fill Rahm Emanuel’s seat representing Illinois’ 5th Congressional District.
Cary received the news from Jim Tobin, president of NTUI, the largest and a highly effective taxpayer group in Illinois. Founded in 1976, the group takes credit for saving Illinois citizens more than $74 billion in income, property, sales and other taxes - both at the state and local levels. NTUI has defeated proposed income tax increases every year since 1993, and has helped taxpayers defeat 190 local property tax increase referendums since 1977.
“Cary has made a pledge to protect taxpayers by opposing any effort to increase taxes,” said Mr. Tobin. “By making this endorsement, we are recognizing his integrity and commitment to fighting taxes.”
The NTUI endorsement is the second one in just a few days’ time. He received the endorsement of Family-Pac Federal last weekend. Family-Pac Federal is a bi-partisan group that has endorsed candidates who are or have been committed to upholding family values.
That’s quite interesting.
[ *** End of Updates *** ]
* As of February 6th, Democrat Paul Bryar’s relatively uncovered, unknown congressional campaign claimed to have raised $250,000 in contributions. That’s pretty darned good and in the top tier of all candidates if true.
But, as they say on the teevee, that’s not all.
Check out the independent expenditures in the district as of today. The American Academy of Opthalmology PAC has spent almost $59,000 in the district so far. According to his website Bryar plays a “leadership role” with the American Academy of Opthalmology. Bryar says he had a volunteer post to help streamline electronic health records.
Bryar said today that my call to his campaign manager asking about the IE was the first he had heard of the expenditure, and pointed out that he’s not on the board of directors and wouldn’t know of its activities. By law, he’s not allowed to coordinate his message or activities with the group. Coordination complaints are sometimes filed even if there’s no actual wrongdoing (just for a press pop, in other words), but Bryar is so unknown (his first poll showed him at 0 percent) that nothing will likely be said or done.
Bryar said he’s running about 1,100 cable TV ads a week, which he claims is more than anyone else in the race. He didn’t know how many ratings points that translates into, and it’s tough to figure that without knowing which channels and programs are running his ads. It’s not a huge amount. Cable requires big buys over a long period of time to work most effectively.
Here’s his ad…
He’s also doing mail. He has the money to be competitive, but this special election will require a serious, seasoned ground game. “Normal” people just won’t vote. Campaigns will have to physically drag their identified supporters to the polls.
* Also, if you clicked on that IE link above, you saw that Emily’s List has spent about $11K on behalf of Rep. Sara Feigenholtz’s congressional campaign. Expect that to grow. Also, expect SEIU to jump in as well. If both groups take the big leap, these independent expenditures could turn out to be the real story in the campaign.
* Ald. Pat O’Connor has also hit the cable TV “airwaves” with a new ad. He’s spending $25K over five days. A commenter reported last night that O’Connor is also now doing robocalls.
* Meanwhile, the Sun-Times has a piece about Rep. John Fritchey getting hammered for defending Roland Burris during the House impeachment committee…
State Rep. John Fritchey (D-Chicago) said he had no interest in protecting Roland Burris when the now-senator appeared before the Illinois House impeachment committee last month.
Here’s the exchange in question…
Burris, who was then trying to be installed as a U.S. Senator, faced a question from Durkin about whether Gov. Blagojevich asked him for any quid-pro-quo in exchange for naming Burris to the senate. Burris said “No.”
“If you were aware of a quid pro quo, what would you have done?” Durkin asked.
Fritchey spoke before Burris answered, saying, “Mr. Burris had already stated that he was not aware of any quid pro quo, which answers that question and puts it to rest.”
Burris eventually volunteered that he would never accept a quid pro quo.
When Durkin asked Burris, “What were your thoughts upon the arrest of the governor?” Fritchey interjected, “Our mission today is to investigate Rod Blagojevich, not Roland Burris.”
That ain’t exactly felonius, but we’re in the middle of a bona fide media feeding frenzy and Fritchey is getting munched. He hasn’t gotten a whole lot of good press this cycle anyway. Witness this Tribune hed about Fritchey’s latest TV ad: Fritchey airs attack ad in race to replace Rahm Emanuel. Oof. As I told you yesterday, the Tribune’s endorsement of Mike Quigley included a whack at Fritchey.
* Fritchey has said he’d support a special election, but Rep. Feigenoltz just called for Burris to resign. From a press release…
“Three months ago I called for a special election to fill President Obama’s seat because I believed voters should have had the right to choose their Senator, not politicians in Springfield. This appointment has been under a dark cloud since the day this seat became vacant. And look where it got us. These disappointing disclosures on the part of Senator Burris mean only one thing: he must resign. It’s time that we hand this decision over to the voters and have a clean break. Let them decide.”
* The Tribune called for Sen. Roland Burris’ resignation in an editorial this morning. The SJ-R did so as well…
And that lack of judgment, we fear, will keep Burris on his present course — clinging tenaciously to his office, changing his story at every turn, denying the people of Illinois the Senate representation they deserve. We would much prefer that Burris embrace reality here and step aside, but we won’t hold our breath.
Burris, like Badgojevich before him, says he has done nothing illegal. The senator from Badgojevich is touring the state to tell people his side of the story. He didn’t lie, he just didn’t tell the truth.
He didn’t give Badgojevich any money for the Senate seat because he couldn’t find anyone willing to donate to the governor’s campaign.
…our new U.S. senator not only was the sucker at the table, but he never even knew it.
And continues…
One of the strange aspects about this to me is that none of the recent revelations — before Tuesday’s — would have necessarily been fatal to Burris’ chances to get the U.S. Senate to accept him as the rightful appointee, if only he’d been honest about it in the first place.
The fact that he’d had conversations with most of the members of the governor’s inner circle to make known his interest in the seat isn’t terribly suspicious, nor would have been brother Rob Blagojevich’s fund-raising overtures to him, if he really had rejected them.
I agree. If, that is, Burris is telling the truth now. We don’t know whether that’s the truth or not.
More…
The fact Burris hid these contacts suggests he always had something else to hide. With the revelation that he tried to raise money for Blagojevich, maybe we’re coming closer to the truth about what that something was.
It now seems clear from looking at the rest of what we know about the Blagojevich case that the governor had devised a system. His inner circle would keep him informed about what favors various individuals were seeking. He would then make some computation of what he thought that favor might be worth and then instruct his brother, newly installed as his fund-raising chief, to put the arm on the potential donor.
If Blagojevich put down Burris for $10,000 because of his interest in the Senate seat, then he was playing him for a sucker.
The best bet, it seems to me, is for voters as well as editorialists to prevail on President Obama and major political and civil rights leaders to apply significant pressure on Burris to step down. First privately, then publicly. Not only is his own reputation crumbling by the day, but he’s hurting the country, the state and his party by staying in office.
But with this stick he’s going to need a carrot; a way to save face and not look like he’s simply fleeing as the media hounds nip at his heels. Offer him a deal in which he steps down but gets the assurance that Gov. Pat Quinn will appoint any one of a number of qualified black politicians to be his replacement. In such a defeat is a shred of honor, and if Burris is as smart as he thinks he is, he’ll see it’s his last chance at political grace.
Dragging Obama into this won’t be pleasant. He doesn’t want to go there. And African-American ministers and civil rights leaders are still solidly (at least publicly) expressing their support.
Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) is standing behind Burris, a spokesman said, although that could change as events continue to unfold. “The congressman is still supportive, but the news is still coming out,” the spokesman said. “He has a responsibility to reserve judgment until everything is known.”
“It kind of reminds me of the environment and atmosphere that existed when Harold [Washington] was running for mayor,” Rush said. “It has the same tenor.”
When asked if he thought there was a racial element involved, Rush did not dismiss the possibility.
“I can’t go standing on innuendos and try to make some kind of determination when I haven’t heard from Roland himself.”
Congressman Danny Davis’ defense of Burris yesterday was tepid, as Bored Now notes…
…But it was still a defense.
* And his friends list is shrinking. Organized labor is also upset with him…
As if he wasn’t dealing with enough this week, newly appointed Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) is coming in for heavy criticism from some of President Barack Obama’s biggest backers in organized labor.
Union leaders are blasting Burris, saying he has not yet taken a clear position on legislation that would make it easier for workers to organize into unions.
* And Sen. Durbin has finally responded, but was more than a bit vague…
ATHENS — U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says he believes the testimony Roland Burris gave to Illinois lawmakers about his appointment to the U.S. Senate was incomplete. […]
But Durbin says he believes that the public statements Burris has made have raised questions about the circumstances surrounding his appointment to the U.S. Senate by ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Durbin says those statements need to be examined carefully. He says he believes that the investigation the Senate is undertaking is appropriate and that he’ll wait for that investigation to be completed.
Now, a 2007 federal subpoena — released in response to a Freedom of Information request — reveals a demand for documents including seven years worth of aldermanic expense records; 29th Ward zoning changes; ordinances introduced by Carothers, and correspondence between Carothers and the mayor’s office regarding zoning changes
The subpoena further demanded information on comments made and votes taken by Carothers since January 2001 before two City Council committees. Carothers could not be reached for comment.
Last year, the Sun-Times reported that Carothers’ New 29th Ward Campaign Committee had accepted, then returned $11,000 in campaign contributions from Morgan Properties, Inc., where FBI mole John Thomas is listed as “manager.” Thomas is a Chicago developer-turned-FBI mole who played a pivotal role in the federal investigation that culminated in the conviction of Tony Rezko, a leading fund-raiser for and adviser to ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Frustrated by Illinois’ long history of public corruption, a federal judge lectured former Ald. Arenda Troutman on Tuesday, telling the longtime politician that she could have been something special.
“Instead you join the Hall of Shame of politicians who sold their offices,” U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo said shortly before sentencing Troutman to 4 years in prison. “You become another in their number.”
With her guilty plea last fall to one count each of mail fraud and tax fraud, Troutman became the 27th Chicago alderman to be convicted of wrongdoing since 1972.
Commonwealth Edison Co. is cutting its capital spending budget for 2009 in response to lower demand for electricity.
ComEd is trimming $150 million from its previously set $1-billion capital budget for 2009. The new $850-million budget is down 11% from last year’s $950-million capital spending level.
Additionally, ComEd is trimming $50 million from its nearly $1-billion operating budget in 2009. The utility said it’s working to reassign employees affected by the operational cuts but isn’t expecting to lay off employees. Instead, the utility “will continue to look for organizational efficiencies through an analysis of staffing and managing costs through ordinary attrition.”
Acco Brands, an office supply wholesaler in Lincolnshire, is cutting workers’ pay by 47 percent between now and April, when it will rise to 80 percent of its current level.
U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock may not have voted for the stimulus package signed into law Tuesday, but he hopes to stimulate the central Illinois farm economy.
* Congressman Foster breaks down stimulus package for 14th District
Job opportunities could be on the way for several thousand Fox Valley residents looking for new work, or any work at all, as a result of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama.
Hours after the passage of the huge federal stimulus package Tuesday, Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner was headed to Springfield to speak one-on-one with Gov. Pat Quinn about capital projects and the state of Aurora’s schools.
Chicago Heights aldermen on Tuesday night agreed to redistribute $1.5 million in excess funds from a special taxing district to local taxing bodies such as the city, park district and school districts.
Drug-resistant staph infections are more common in Illinois hospital patients than previously thought, according to new data from the Illinois Hospital Association.
But medical centers may not be to blame: The overwhelming majority of hospital patients with methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus aureus, or MRSA, were already infected before being admitted, the data suggests.
* Expected closing of 4 mental health centers in Chicago prompts fear, sadness in patients who consider them a lifeline
For as many as 2,000 patients who rely on Chicago’s community mental-health centers to provide stability in their turbulent lives, the reality that change is coming in the next few months is frightening.
Four of the city’s 12 centers are slated to close April 7, necessitated by a $1.2 million cut in state funding, city officials said. All the doomed centers are on the South Side.
A group opposed to a Chicago Public Schools plan to close and reorganize schools released two studies Tuesday saying the efforts have not led to improvements and have focused on poor neighborhoods undergoing gentrification.
As Phil Rogers of the Tribune reported earlier this week, Buehrle is talking about retiring after the 2011 season, when he would be all of 32.
According to the story, Buehrle already misses his wife and 18-month-old son, even though spring training has just started.
“[I] don’t think you’re going to see me in a baseball uniform for too many more years,” Buehrle says. “I miss my family too much when I’m away. . . . I won’t be around until I’m 40. I can guarantee that.”
