The Daily Background

… The real revelation though is that Burris may have promised some sort of quid pro quo for the disgraced former governor who is now awaiting a criminal trial:

Transcripts from a call taped by the FBI show Sen. Roland Burris pleaded to be appointed to the U.S. Senate and promised to “personally do something” in response to a fundraising appeal on behalf of then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The promise came in a phone conversation with Blagojevich’s brother, Robert Blagojevich, who led the campaign fund. Burris repeatedly says how much he wants to be appointed to President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat.

In response to an appeal for money from the governor’s brother Burris says: “I will personally do something.”

The transcript was released Tuesday as part of a motion by the U.S. attorney’s office. The U.S. Senate ethics committee is investigating how Burris got his seat.

The Burris camp’s reaction?

“We think that this tape will show what Senator Burris has said all along – that he was never involved with play-to-pay politics,” Timothy Wright, a lawyer for Mr. Burris said Tuesday. “The release of this tape puts that to rest. Senator Burris kept telling the truth, and the fact is he was consistent, and is a good and honest guy.”

Phew. What immediately came to mind after reading this was the time when I attended a City Council meeting here in Chicago that Burris was present at, and watched alderman after alderman suck up to the guy (who was at the time about to be seated). This was, of course, in true Chicago style, though the majority of Illinoians certainly don’t want him representing them in the US Senate. One presumes that feeling will be only intensified with these new disclosures. Burris, of course, wants to run for re-election in 2010, although as of now that seems quite the longshot.

Filed under: Z-TDB Blog