February 22, 2009 04:31 PM UTC

At Least He's Not Your Appointed Senator

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• by: Colorado Pols

How much worse it could be, the Chicago Tribune reports:

U.S. Sen. Roland Burris was interviewed by federal authorities for several hours Saturday as part of the ongoing corruption investigation into charges that former Gov. Rod Blagojevich tried to sell a Senate seat for personal or political profit, sources familiar with the talks said.

Burris’ interview, which had been delayed for weeks, took place at his attorney’s offices in downtown Chicago. He has been informed he is not a target of the probe, the sources said.

Burris acknowledged a week ago that federal investigators wanted to talk to him about the circumstances surrounding his appointment by Blagojevich…

Burris has denied engaging in any trading for the post. But in testimony to state lawmakers and in response to reporters’ questions, the senator has offered an evolving narrative over whom he contacted and what he did to secure the appointment by Blagojevich.

His accounts have resulted in a perjury inquiry by prosecutors in Springfield and a Senate Ethics Committee investigation, as well as a growing chorus of calls for Burris’ resignation. The White House has urged Burris to use the weekend to consider his political fate.

Worth keeping in mind next time you want to call our own governor’s recent Senate appointment ‘inexplicable’ or ‘nonsensical’–even if it’s true there are far nastier adjectives out there.