Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich didn’t go down without a big fight (or a full-on media assault), and judging by the comportment of his controversial Senate pick, Roland Burris, we can expect another show of defiance if Burris is put on trial for perjury.


AP via mywebtimes.com:

CHICAGO — With the impeachment of a governor, Illinois has already had more political fireworks this year than it has seen in decades. Could the perjury trial of a U.S. senator be next?

Sen. Roland Burris could face that charge if he lied under oath on Jan. 8 when he didn’t fully disclose contacts he had with Gov. Rod Blagojevich or his advisers before he was appointed to President Obama’s former Senate seat, legal experts say.

But as the clamor escalated this past week, those experts say perjury is a tricky and hard-to-prove charge and not enough is known at this point to say whether a full-fledged investigation is warranted — let alone an indictment.

“Those who say this is a slam-dunk perjury case are wrong,” said Patrick M. Collins, who headed the team of federal prosecutors that sent former Gov. George Ryan to prison. “Those who say this is not a perjury case are premature.”

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