Senate Ethics Committee clears Illinois senator of legal wrongdoing

[DearAbby]

Washington (CNN) -- The Senate Ethics Committee issued a letter Friday clearing embattled Illinois Sen. Roland Burris of any legal wrongdoing.

The committee admonished Burris, however, for failing to meet "a much higher standard of conduct."

"The committee found that you should have known that you were providing incorrect, inconsistent, misleading, or incomplete information to the public, the Senate, and those conducting legitimate inquiries into your appointment to the Senate."

Burris issued a statement saying he is "pleased that after numerous investigations, this matter has finally come to a close."

Burris, currently the only African-American U.S. senator, is serving the remaining two years of President Obama's Senate term, but he has never been embraced by his party's leaders in Illinois or on Capitol Hill.

He was appointed to the seat in December by Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who was later impeached, removed from office and arrested on federal corruption charges alleging that he tried to sell Obama's seat to the highest bidder.

Democratic leaders urged Blagojevich, who has maintained his innocence, not to make an appointment. He disregarded those wishes by naming Burris, a former state attorney general and state comptroller, to the seat.

More at Link:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/20/burris.ethics/index.html

[Vinnie From Indy]

1. This is really an indictment of the US Senate

Burris flat out lied on several occasions about his actions and the Senate panel knows it.