Burris Deep In Legal Debt

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Feb 2, 2010 4:20PM

Even as Illinois voters set out today to begin the process of electing his replacement, U.S. Senator Roland Burris is in trouble. It seems his growing legal debt has grown by well over a half a million dollars since last spring. Yesterday, Politico reported that filings released this week show that Burris' legal debt now tops a whopping $600,000 while money raised was around $6,000 for third quarter 2009 and nothing for the fourth quarter. Burris was scrutinized for perjury during 2009, relating to his appointment to the the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama when he won the presidential election in the fall of 2010. Last summer, he got off the hook for perjury from the state of Illinois and was ultimately cleared of wrong-doing by the Senate Ethics Committee, even as the issued a letter of admonition against Burris. Burris announced last summer he wouldn't be seeking to keep his seat.