While Roland Burris' testimony before the House impeachment commitee today was largely uneventful, there were a few questionable moments. The first came early on when Burris asserted that he had not read the criminal complaint filed against Gov. Blagojevich. That Burris -- a former state attorney general -- would accept an appointment from the governor without acquainting himself with the detailed allegations against him is a bit dumbfounding.
The second speed bump also surfaced early in the testimony. In response to a question from GOP Rep. Jim Durkin, Burris disclosed that he'd told Lon Monk ("Lobbyist 1" in the Blagojevich complaint) that he was interested in the Senate seat while talking to Monk about potential state business last summer.
Here's video of both moments, via CLTV:
Archpundit noted how none of the committee members seemed to think the Monk admission "was strange." Meanwhile, the Huffington Post's Sam Stein and Ryan Grim led with this in their article on the testimony:
In a sworn affidavit filed January 5, Burris stated that before he was asked by Blagojevich staff if he was interested in the Senate position, "there was not any contact between myself or any of my representatives with Governor Blagojevich or any of his representatives regarding my appointment to the United States Senate.
During Thursday's hearing, Burris insisted that the conversation with Monk was innocent, saying that he merely wanted to let the governor's people know that he was interested in the post and believed he was qualified for it.
"He said, 'I think you are too,'" Burris said of his conversation, emphasizing that he did not talk to Monk or anyone else on the governor's staff after Blagojevich's arrest.
Nevertheless, the revelation casts something of a shadow over the behind-the-scenes process by which Burris obtained Blagojevich's favor.
Will this cause Burris any problems as he gets closer to being seated by the Senate? We'll have to wait and see.
