Progress Illinois

From the department of dubious claims ... On Ray Hanania's WJJG radio show this morning, Delmarie Cobb, adviser to Sen. Roland Burris, said that she "jokes with Roland that he has made Dick Durbin a better senator than he ever was."  She also asserted that Durbin "is so busy trying to show Roland up that he is suddenly running all over town at ribbon-cuttings and groundbreakings."  Hanania asked in response, "Is it really him leveraging Roland's problems to make himself look better?"  "Oh, that's exactly what it is," Cobb responded.  Listen (full audio here):

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Hmm.  Having kept a pretty close eye on Sen. Durbin here at PI over the past 15 months, I can't say we've noticed any particular shift in his work ethic since Burris' swearing-in.  (He's been quite active in Washington, but that is probably a byproduct of, you know, having a Democratic president for the first time in eight years.) Then again, maybe Cobb has a special "ribbon-cuttings and groundbreakings" counter we don't know about.

During the radio appearance, she also defended Burris' January testimony before the Illinois House impeachment committee, in which he said nary a word about the fact he had discussed the vacant U.S. Senate seat in the context of a fundraising call from then-Gov. Blagojevich's brother and campaign fund chairman.  Listen:

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We've thoroughly rebutted the notion that it was incumbent upon the committee members to pry the full truth out of Burris.  Indeed, Rep. Jil Tracy did follow-up after Burris mentioned a previously-undisclosed conversation about the seat with Blagojevich associate Lon Monk, asking: "So you don't recall that there was anybody else besides Lon Monk that you expressed that interest to at that point?"  Burris' answer: "No, I don't recall."  

In hindsight, could the committee members have grilled him in more detail?  Of course.  But it's also important to remember that the January 8 hearing came just four days after Burris submitted an affidavit stating that, prior to being offered the seat, "there was not any contact between myself or any of my representatives with Gov. Blagojevich or any of his representatives regarding my appointment to the United States Senate."  By putting the onus on the lawmakers to ferret out the whole story that day, Cobb is essentially arguing they should have assumed Burris was lying in that affidavit. 

Some defense.