Yesterday was not a good day for Roland Burris.
First, he admitted that, contradicting the impression he had left over the weekend, he had tried to raise money for Rod Blagojevich after a conversation with the then-governor’s brother. (That acknowledgement came on the heels of an affidavit Burris filed earlier this month which itself contradicted his sworn testimony to the legislature about conversations with Blagojevich’s circle.)
Then, we learned that two investigations have been launched into the new senator’s shifting explanations. One is described by the Chicago Tribune as “a perjury review,” being conducted by John Schmidt, the local prosecutor in Springfield, and a Republican. Schmidt said he was acting on a request from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
And the Senate ethics committee opened its own probe into the perjury question yesterday, The Hill confirmed.
Then late last night, the Tribune and the Washington Post went live with editorials calling on Burris to resign.
Like we said, not a good day.