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Was the Senate Ethics Committee tough enough on Roland Burris?
By Lauren | November 23, 2009
You can always tell when somebody in Washington knows they’re about to drop a PR stinkbomb, because the story gets released on a Friday, preferably in the late afternoon. Theoretically, the worst of the embarrassing odor dissipates over the weekend so that everyone can get back to business as usual on Monday morning. The strategy must work, because it gets used a lot.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the Senate Ethics Committee chose to release its “public letter of qualified admonition” to Illinois Senator Roland Burris last Friday. The embattled senator has been defending himself since he accepted former governor Rod Blagojevich’s offer to appoint him as a temporary replacement when then-Senator Obama was elected President. Senate leaders required Burris to testify to Illinois legislators who were investigating Balgojevich about his appointment as a condition of being seated. The Senate Ethics Committee found that Burris provided “incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information” about his appointment to the Illinois state legislators - but didn’t outright lie to them or break the law. The committee apparently decided that Burris’ conduct, though it reflected unfavorably upon the Senate, deserved no more than a “qualified admonition,” whatever that is. (I’m reminded of Animal House’s famous “double secret probation.”)
Here’s the problem: Congress is up to its collective ears in financial reform legislation. At least some of the subprime mortgage meltdown was caused by lack of candor in the mortgage market. Can Congress credibly demand greater transparency of others when it lets one of its own off so lightly for non-disclosure? An admonishment is embarrassing, but is embarrassment harsh enough punishment for failing to cooperate with an impeachment investigation? Maybe Senator Burris didn’t perjure himself, but he didn’t cover himself in glory, either, and he certainly could have done better. No wonder they released the admonishment letter on a Friday.
Topics: Business Ethics, Social Ethics, business communications, ethics |
December 4th, 2009 at 6:47 pm
Hi - I’ll comment on this post later. I know blog carnival is having issues so I’m just going around and confirming for everyone that I did receive your submission for the upcoming carnival. Thanks for your support!
December 7th, 2009 at 3:47 am
[...] presents Was the Senate Ethics Committee tough enough on Ronald Burris? posted at The Business Ethics Blog, saying, “Continuing the Blagojevich saga, Congress rushed [...]
January 5th, 2010 at 6:01 am
Chicago’s new poet laureate isn’t done yet.
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