The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has completed its investigation of Sen. Roland Burris, and his office is trumpeting its finding that he committed no "actionable violations of the law." What his press release didn't mention is that the committee also found he had provided "incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information" about his appointment to the Senate. Which is senatorese for, "Pants on fire!"Where did His Ego fall short of complete truthfulness? He first denied having any contact with Gov. Rod Blagojevich or his representatives about being appointed to Barack Obama's vacant seat. Then he said only that he had talked with the governor's former chief of staff, Lon Monk. At that point, despite its skepticism, the Senate let him be sworn in.
Then, and only then, did Burris amend his earlier testimony to admit contacts with five other Blagojevich cronies. Later yet, he acknowledged conversations with the governor's brother--including one in which (as a wiretap revealed) he promised to donate to the governor's campaign, offered to try to raise money for him, and expressed an intense desire for the Senate job. All of which sounded like a quid pro quo.
Why didn't he provide that information sooner? Because if he had, the Senate wouldn't have seated him. He lied to get an office he lusted after, and that he couldn't have gotten any other way.
The result is that he gets to call himself a senator and can boast that he's never been indicted. But to most Illinoisans, Burris will always be remembered as a lying snake.
