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Burris Won't Face Perjury Charges: Ill. Prosecutor
Evidence on Blago contacts insufficient
By Nick McMaster
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Posted Jun 19, 09 2:11 PM CDT
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(Newser)
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Sen. Roland Burris will not be charged with perjury for neglecting to tell an Illinois House impeachment panel about additional discussions he had with associates of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the State Journal-Register reports. While Burris did omit conversations about the Senate appointment with members of Blagojevich’s inner circle, they were “brief” and described by the individuals as “in passing,” prosecutor John Schmidt said.
At the time, Schmidt explained, the Democrat “told anyone he thought had the attention of Gov. Blagojevich that he was interested in the Senate seat: “These were not substantive discussions concerning how to get the appointment, but rather Sen. Burris imploring the listener to tell Gov. Blagojevich he was interested.”