Roland Burris and the Chicago Way: 'Who Walks Away From $1.2 Million?'

It didn't take long for the skeletons in Roland Burris' closet to start coming out.

Roland Burris, Illinois' newest senator, likes to talk about his years of service to the people of the state and his steadfast refusal to engage in the politics of favors.

He rarely discusses one milestone in his long public career: a record $800,000 campaign loan he received in his 2002 run for governor. Nor is he quick to mention the man who made the loan, businessman Joseph Stroud, who provided most of Burris' financial support—$1.57 million in all—for that failed bid.

So why did this businessman go to Burris?

The businessman made it clear he had called on Burris, then a private citizen, because of Burris' political résumé. "There is an appropriate person to go to who was formerly a state attorney general here in Illinois, I believe, to properly secure prosecution of a crime," he testified in the ex-employee's lawsuit.

Burris testified that Stroud's contributions bought him no special access and he denied an allegation in the suit that Stroud had offered Burris $20,000 if the former employee were charged with eavesdropping because of tape recordings she made.

So how much total was "loaned"?

During Burris' campaign, Stroud's support accounted for more than 70 percent of Burris' political fund. The $800,000 loan remains the biggest single gubernatorial contribution since records went online in 1994, state elections officials said.

Stroud made a second loan of $400,000, of which Burris repaid $6,000, for a total of about $1.2 million in loans to Burris' gubernatorial race, state election records show. Stroud also provided $375,000 in cash and in-kind donations like airtime on WJYS, billboard ads and staff.

Politicians don't always repay campaign loans, but the amount of outstanding debt in Burris' case brought scrutiny from Illinois legislators last month when he appeared at a hearing over former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's possible impeachment.

Burris has yet to pay back a dime of these loans.

You try not paying back $1.2 million in loans to somebody and see what happens. Perhaps there were some favors involved?

"Who walks away from $1.2 million?" Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) said in a recent interview, later adding, "It's just human nature to think that with a loan of this nature that there is a monetary and a personal indebtedness to this individual."

Asked about Stroud at the time of the donations, Burris only would say he is a "friend," telling reporters, "That's all you need to know."
Burris met Stroud at the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, Burris said in civil-suit testimony. He said he helped to place Stroud's wife, Yvonne, on the board of the Chicago Sinfonietta.

Curious how most of the MSM is ignoring this story .