The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
February 18, 2009

Burris Probed for Senate Appointment Claims
-------------------------------------------



And two probes have begun into Illinois Senator Roland Burris after he
gave conflicting accounts of how he came to be named to his seat. Burris
recently acknowledged he had conversations with allies of former
Governor Rod Blagojevich before Blagojevich named him to fill Barack
Obama’s Senate seat. Burris also said he tried to raise money for
Blagojevich at the request of the governor’s brother. When questioned
under oath last month, Burris failed to tell state lawmakers about these
conversations. The United States Senate Ethics Committee and a local
Illinois prosecutor say they’re investigating Burris in light of the
claims. Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office last month
after he was accused of trying to sell Obama’s seat.



.