Senate Ethics Panel Could Act on Burris Without Waiting for Criminal Investigation

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Senate Ethics Panel Could Act on Burris Without Waiting for Criminal Investigation
By Bart Jansen, CQ Staff


The Senate Ethics Committee could complete its inquiry of Roland W. Burris within weeks and without waiting for any possible criminal case about discrepancies in statements about his appointment, lawyers familiar with the panel said Friday.

Committee investigations sometimes last months and often defer to criminal cases, such as in last year’s trial of Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. But because Burris, an Illinois Democrat, has offered multiple explanations about how he was appointed, the committee could focus on how he was seated rather than results of a potential criminal charge of perjury.

“The committee could look at this and say that the core activities here really go to the Senate appointment,” said Robert L. Walker of Wiley Rein LLP, a former chief counsel and staff director for the Senate and House ethics committees. “The committee could look at those as core Senate issues and we’re going to look at those and not defer.”

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