Appears to be.
SPRINGFIELD -- A potentially troublesome new detail emerged about Roland Burris' controversial U.S. Senate appointment Thursday after a state House panel voted unanimously to recommend Gov. Blagojevich be impeached.
For the first time, Burris indicated that he asked Blagojevich's former chief of staff and college classmate, Lon Monk, to relay his interest in the Senate seat to the governor last July or September.
"If you're close to the governor, you know, let him know I'm certainly interested in the seat," Burris said he told Monk.
That testimony appears to differ from an affidavit Burris submitted to the impeachment panel this week in which he stated he spoke to no "representatives" of the governor about the Senate post prior to Dec. 26.
Federal prosecutors, who identified Monk as "Lobbyist 1" in their criminal complaint against Blagojevich, indicated they tapped Monk's phone in November as Blagojevich moved to fill President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat.
Whether the new Monk detail poses any threat to Burris' efforts to persuade Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to allow him to be seated isn't clear, but Republicans on the state impeachment panel see a contradiction.
"There is an inconsistency between his testimony and the affidavit," said state Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs). "I'll leave it to Sen. Reid to determine what value that has to their process."
Read on.
You now know Monk is "Lobbyist 1" according to Fitz's criminal complaint against Blago. And there is more: Feds want to have a talk with Blagojevich's brother. And who is Blago's brother? Robert Blagojevich is a Tennessee businessman who chairs his brother's Friends of Blagojevich fund. And he's been identified as "Fundraiser A" Robert Blagojevich took over the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund in August, making about $12,500 a month to manage it.
In order words from the criminal complaint, there was a public deal with Blago's alleged efforts to secure campaign payments from a contributor -- harness racing businessman Johnny Johnston [known in the complaint as "Contributor 1"] -- in exchange for signing a bill that directed casino revenue to horse racing. In addition to the governor, Johnston, former Blagojevich chief of staff Lon Monk, and Robert Blagojevich are on the recordings. Monk is a lobbyist.
The Senate trial for Blago's impeachment is set to begin Jan. 26. If 40 of 59 senators vote to convict Blagojevich, he will be removed from office and barred from holding elected position again. Blago will be the eighth governor to be impeached and removed, and the first since Arizona's Evan Mecham in 1988.
1 comment:
More holes in that story then Swiss cheese. Look Burris has been sucking up to G-Rod for many years and has made many backroom deals. What Burris didn't know is G-Rod has been under investigation for 5 years and Burris doen't know what he said back then or when his name came up resently. Dont' be surprise if even Rezko has mentioned Burris during his corrupt actions. G-Rod will be impeached and Burris will be known forever as the impeached Govenor's choice.
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