Blago's Wife Tie to Roland Burris Draws Attention

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

As perhaps-senator Roland Burris prepares to testify before the Illinois House impeachment committee on Thursday, an indirect connection between himself and Gov. Rod Blagojevich's wife, Patti, is drawing new attention.

At issue in a matter raised on Bruce DuMont's "Beyond the Beltway" radio show is a $100,000-a-year job Ms. Blagojevich got in September as development director of the Chicago Christian Industrial League, a civic group which helps train and get jobs for poor folks.

Ms. Blagojevich got the post after dropping her work as a real estate agent; she had received commissions for work done for the now-indicted Tony Rezko and other politically connected clients.

Anyhow, among those on the league's board is one Fred Lebed, Mr. Burris' longtime business partner, adviser and political confidant.

So, do the dots lead from point A to point B? Or does it merely look that way?

Mr. Lebed said he'd joined the league's board only a couple of months before the hiring and that he had absolutely, positively nothing to do with getting the job for the woman who is married to the man who named Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate.

"I learned about Patti's hiring as a contractual staffer after the hire (was made)," Mr. Lebed said in a phone chat. "They were looking for a development director, and the executive director hired her," he said. "There is not a shred of truth" to talk that he was involved, Mr. Lebed concludes.

You'll want to read the whole article.Roland Burris could you greater ties to Blago than you thought.