Burris at yesterday's City Club speech/AP photo
Look for the constant drip, drip of new revelations that spell continued trouble for Illinois' junior Senator. Today's developments: news of more phone conversations between Burris and Blago aides. It's getting darn near impossible to figure out what really happened by following Roland Burris' actual statements. But let's dig deeper. I'm up for the task of analyzing a few clues from what is NOT expressly stated.
1. Blago and his brother were playing Burris for the money in November, not considering him a serious candidate. Based on the transcripts released so far from other conversations, we know that Blagojevich thought the Senate seat was worth a lot more than the $15,000 Burris says he was asked to raise. He only ended up a candidate when Blago failed to leverage any money from the deal and wanted to toss up a difficult-to-challenge nominee as a final play before his exit. Hard not to think of it as a race-card play, in that context.
2. There are more people out there with more information to share. Who did Burris call when going through the motions of trying to raise money for Blago? What did he tell them? Will any of them come forward and give a different interpretation, perhaps revealing that Burris DID make a connection between the Senate seat and his fundraising effort?
3. When your press guy quits, you're really on thin ice. Burris spokesman Jason Erkes told CNN it was only a "temporary" assignment, and he now needs to "get back to focusing on ... my newly formed strategic communications business." Yeah, right. That's about as credible as, well, Burris' initial testimony to the House impeachment committee.
Will Burris resign? His ego is still too over-inflated to allow for that decision. But the pressure is mounting, with some of the black ministers who rallied the support that got him into the job now saying they'll call on him to resign. Will he be indicted for perjury? There wasn't enough evidence when the question was first raised, but the Sangamon County State's Attorney has more to work with as each new day dawns.
Maybe the only big question left is: how do you encapsulate THIS achievement for the mausoleum?
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