A top ally of Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) had sought to make arrangements to benefit then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) in exchange for Burris’s Senate appointment, a former Burris consultant alleged Friday.
John Ruff, a political consultant and former co-plaintiff in Burris’s lawsuit seeking to force his seating in the Senate, asserted that a Burris ally, Fred Lebed, called him before the appointment to say, “We’ll have to do some things for the governor.”
“There is more to be discovered,” Ruff exclusively told the Chicago Sun-Times. “I know the key to finding the information out is through Fred. That’s the main point I wish to get across.”
“I don’t know what John’s problem is,” Lebed responded, saying he has tapes on which Ruff is angry and cursing. “That’s ridiculous.”
Ruff said he decided to come forward out of fear that his role in the Burris seating would result in criminal charges eventually if he weren’t honest now.
“At the time, I just didn’t give that much thought to it because I did not believe they would agree to do any pay-for-play politics for that Senate seat,” Ruff said. “But then Roland said down in Peoria, ‘I attempted to raise money but was just unsuccessful.’ My thoughts sort of raced back to that moment and realized there was something more nefarious, perhaps, that had been involved here.”
A spokesperson for Burris did not comment for the Sun-Times article.