Roland Burris' Financial Problems

Hot Air reports:

Illinois campaign finance records reveal another side of Roland Burris that may give pause to those worried by the growing congressional culture of lobbyists wielding special interest influence to gain questionable earmarks, pork barrel spending contracts and insider favors with federal regulatory officials.

In his 2002 attempt to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, Burris depended heavily upon Joseph Stroud, an Illinois political heavyweight contributor, thanks to his ownership of Jovon Broadcasting and Telephone U.S.A. In the 2002 race, [Stroud] provided Burris with the following loans and contributions:

* Jovon Broadcasting individual contribution to Burris: $200,000
* Jovon Broadcasting in-kind contributions to Burris: $179,895
* Telephone U.S.A. (and USA) loans to Burris: $1,200,000

Burris repaid $6,000 of the Telephone U.S.A. loans in November 2003, but no other payments appear in the records. This puts the total support from Stroud to Burris at $1,573,895.

Presumably, these contributions were all legal, but the outstanding loans could create a potential conflict of interest should Stroud have issues with federal regulators once Burris is sworn-in as Illinois senator.

A Chicago style Democrat.