Burris kicked to the curb by black pastors

posted at 10:16 am on February 20, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
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Roland Burris’ serial prevarications on his relationship with disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich have put tremendous pressure on Democrats to do something, or risk carrying the stench of scandal for the next two years.  While Senate Democratic leaders Harry Reid and Dick Durbin have issued increasingly terse and distant statements and have pushed the issue to the Senate Ethics Commitee for review, neither have had the nerve to demand Burris’ resignation for his lies under oath about contacts with — and fundraising for — Blagojevich.  We have speculated Reid and Durbin want to avoid a showdown with the Congressional Black Caucus over removing the only African-American in the upper chamber, and they won’t move without some political cover.

A group of black ministers in Chicago just provided them with a Snuggie:

A group of black ministers who supported U.S. Sen. Roland Burris as he fought to get his job now plan to ask for his resignation following revelations that he tried to raise money for the disgraced governor who appointed him, one of the ministers told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Many of the city’s influential black pastors supported Burris because of his scandal-free reputation—even though he was appointed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich three weeks after the governor was arrested for allegedly trying to sell the Senate seat.

Now some of those pastors will ask Burris to resign, according to the minister, who spoke on condition of anonymity because a meeting with Burris had not yet been scheduled.

Now Reid and Durbin have allies with Unchallenged Moral Authority, really on two bases.  Any demand for a resignation now by Reid and/or Durbin can’t be cast as a racist ploy.  Second, even apart from that issue, the same friends that wanted Burris to get the nomination now want him to leave.  That makes a rather powerful argument for Burris’ ejection.

Speaking of that “scandal-free reputation,” Burris has more bad news, courtesy of CQ Politics:

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. …

In a Feb. 5 submission to the committee, Burris listed 26 clients dating to 2003.

But the filing contains discrepancies with documents filed with the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office and with the Chicago Board of Ethics. A number of clients are listed only in either the legislative filing or in the agency records.

For example, records with the secretary of state show Burris representing the Council of Independent Tobacco Manufacturers of America from 2003 to 2005 and the Illinois Association of Mortgage Brokers in 2007. But those clients don’t appear in his filing with the Impeachment Committee.

I guess after lying about his relationship with Blagojevich on several occasions, including in sworn testimony to the state legislature, a lobbying scandal seems a bit tame.  However, hiding his relationship with the Association of Mortgage Brokers during a financial meltdown created by bad mortgages doesn’t exactly count as an inside-the-Beltway problem.  What other relationships will turn up in Burris’ past?  Jack Abramoff?  Bernie Madoff?  John Wayne Gacy?

Rick Moran seems skeptical that Burris will resign, and he may be right.  But it was Dick Durbin, his partner from Illinois, who insisted that the Ethics Commitee add the lobbying issue to their investigation of his Blagojevich connections and his changing testimony.  I’d say that Reid and Durbin want as much cover to push him out as possible, and that they may have already found enough from a surprising source.  If Reid and Durbin publicly demand his resignation, Burris will have little choice and no friends to back him up.

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