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President Obama continued collecting money for his 2010 Senate re-election campaign even after he resigned his seat from Illinois, including a maximum $2,300 donation the day after Christmas from a top executive of a Wall Street firm that had received a government bailout. Four contributions - $4,800 in all - were donated to the Obama 2010 fund on Dec. 26, according to Federal Election Commission reports. The money came from some of Mr. Obama's top presidential fundraisers: Bruce A. Heyman, managing director at Goldman Sachs, which received a $10 billion bailout last year; Steven Koch, vice chairman at Credit Suisse...

Voters May Go In Early Through April 2 For 5th Congressional District Race CHICAGO (CBS) ― Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley topped a field of a dozen Democrats in the 5th Congressional District primary on March 3. He faces Illinois Minuteman Project founder Rosanna Pulido, who won the Republican nomination, and peace activist Matthew Reichel, who won for the Green Party. Early voting runs through April 2, and the special election is on April 7. The district includes much of the north lakefront and Northwest Side, as well as a handful of western suburbs – among them all or parts...

On February 5 Roland Burris quietly filed an affidavit to correct the testimony he had provided to the Illinois House impeachment panel on January 8. Rep. James Durkin closely questioned Burris regarding his awareness of a quid pro quo for his Senate seat. His answer was that he was not. Burris's affidavit reveals that he was solicited for campaign cash (up to $10,000, according to the Sun-Times) by Governor Blagojevich's brother Robert in connection with Burris's interest in the seat. What prompted Burris's correction of his testimony? The Sun-Times notes that one of Burris's three conversations with the governor's brother...

Rod Blagojevich placed responsibility for one key impeachment charge just a door away from the Oval Office. Blagojevich said before the Senate vote that, if he's impeached, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel should be a "co-conspirator."... Don't expect to hear or see much of Blagojevich's potentially explosive assertions in the legacy media, though. At Thursday afternoon's White House briefing, reporters took note of Blagojevich's live, nationally-televised speech by asking Press Secretary Robert Gibbs exactly zero--zip, nada, nothing--questions about the role the Chief of Staff, potentially the second most powerful person in the White House, may or may not...

Roland Burris is now officially a U.S. senator. The Illinois Democrat was sworn-in by Vice President Dick Cheney Thursday at a Capitol Hill ceremony. His new colleagues in the Senate chamber responded with applause. He takes his Senate seat alongside fellow Democrats who initially turned him away, and who had vowed not to seat anyone appointed by embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The governor, who's been impeached by state lawmakers, is accused of trying to sell the Senate seat that had been held by President-elect Barack Obama. Burris is now being given a polite welcome by Democrats, who say they never...

WASHINGTON – It looks like Roland Burris will take President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat later this week. Senate Democratic leaders said they expect to swear in the former Illinois attorney general in the coming days, barring objections from Republicans. Senators Harry Reid and Dick Durbin made that statement after Burris' lawyer met with Senate officials, who said his formal paperwork was in order.

Rachel Maddow character interviewing Burris.

Here's what hasn't changed in America. In the past week or so, we've seen a threatened Senate stand-off, hyperbolic historical references, an alleged case of stonewalling by the Illinois secretary of state, lawsuits and rumors of lawsuits, a wild-card nominee for the Senate first turned away from that body and then perhaps accepted by it, and that same nominee called upon to testify in the impeachment hearings of the man who nominated him -- all tied together by the complicating factor of race. Former Illinois attorney general Roland W. Burris may well be qualified to serve as the junior senator...

Roland Burris smiles at Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Photo: AP Following a decision by the Illinois Supreme Court, Jesse White, the Illinois secretary of state, has certified Roland Burris' appointment to the Senate, removing a major roadblock blocking Burris' ascension to the body. According to his office, White has signed a certificate saying that Roland Burris' appointment document is "true and accurate." The move came just hours after Illinois' top state court ruled that White's approval was not necessary for a valid appointment to the Senate for Burris by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The Illinois House earlier in the day had...

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin said the Senate won't seat Roland Burris without the signature of Ill. Secretary of State Jesse White, the Associated Press reports.

Senate Democrats plan to accept Roland Burris for President-elect Barack Obama's vacant seat, the Associated Press reports. After being rejected Tuesday when he tried to join the class of incoming senators, Burris is expected to meet with the Senate's top two Democrats -- Majority Leader Harry Reid and assistant leader Dick Durbin -- on Wednesday in the hopes of securing their support. The likelihood that Burris, a Democrat, will become the Senate's only black member after Obama's resignation from the seat, increased Tuesday when a key chairwoman got behind him, cracking what had been united public front by Senate Democrats...

Reversing themselves, Senate Democratic leaders on Wednesday morning opened the door to allowing Roland W. Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate. After a private 45-minute meeting with the former Illinois state attorney general, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, and Senator Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said that they were open to recognizing Mr. Burris’s appointment as long as he meets a series of conditions.

The chairman of the Senate Rules Committee has parted with many of her Democratic colleagues and says that the Senate should seat former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California said Tuesday that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, however tainted by corruption charges, has the right to appoint someone to President-elect Barack Obama's former seat. The Rules Committee decides whether Burris is qualified to serve.

Judicial Watch claims today that they have documented proof that Barack Obama lied when he said he had no contacts with Rod Blagojevich. The letter they gained from a Freedom of Information query certainly does show that Obama acknowledged meeting with Blagojevich, but it falls far short of indicating any sort of discussion on replacing Obama in the Senate: Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the office of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich through the Freedom of Information Act related to Blagojevich’s contacts with President-elect Obama and...

Bennett: Send Moseley Braun to Senate, Not Burris @ 5:02 pm by Hill Staff Sen. Robert Bennett (Utah), the top Republican on the Senate Rules and Administration Committee, suggested Tuesday that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) should instead appoint former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun (D) to the upper chamber instead of Roland Burris. "She's non-controversial, she has been here, she's an African-American, she clearly has not been picked by the governor, and she would be appointed by virtue of her past history," said Bennett, whose committee may soon consider Burris's Senate appointment. "Everyone would accept her," Bennett said. "If she...

WASHINGTON – Roland Burris has arrived on Capitol Hill in a steady rainfall and a swarm of television cameras to claim his Senate seat. [snip] It still wasn't clear whether 71-year-old former Illinois attorney general would be allowed to take the oath of office for the seat ... [snip] Earlier Tuesday, Burris had been in tense negotiations with Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer. Once inside the Capitol, he was taken to the secretary of the Senate's office for further discussions.

Judicial Watch Obtains Documents Re: Blagojevich Contacts with Obama and Transition Team Contact: Press Office 202-646-5188 Washington, DC -- January 5, 2009 Includes December 3, 2008, Letter to "Rod" Signed by Obama Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it has obtained documents from the office of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich through the Freedom of Information Act related to Blagojevich's contacts with President-elect Obama and his transition team. The documents include a December 3, 2008, letter from Barack Obama following his December 2, 2008, meeting with Blagojevich as well as a November...

Rahm Emanuel is now on the political equivalent of the missing person’s list. Since his name emerged as one of the players in the “pay to play” corruption allegations against Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-Ill.) last month, Emanuel has rarely been seen, and hasn’t been heard from at all, except to perfunctorily submit a letter to Speaker Pelosi, and resign his House seat, so he can take the position of White House chief of staff in the forthcoming Obama administration. But, it’s really no wonder why Emanuel has chosen to live his life underground. According to published reports, Emanuel is...

We are headed for a showdown in the U.S. Senate tomorrow! Roland Burris - appointed by accused Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to fill Barack Obama's former senate seat - is planning to show up tomorrow to take the oath of office in the new Senate, but the Senate says he will not be seated because his paperwork has not been signed by the Illinois Secretary of State. Burris was combative in a press conference this afternoon about the situation, as you will see in the video above. It ought to be fun to watch the Democrats cut each other up...

A show that Springer couldn't even conceive John Kass January 4, 2009 Roland "Tombstone" Burris goes to Washington this week as part of the Illinois political freak show, and many of us back home will watch it and feel like cringing, at least at the beginning. Who among us could not wince at the prospect of Tombstone standing before news cameras, his head bobbing, smiling amiably, chattering nonsensically as is his way, insisting he feels no shame. All he wants is to become a United States senator, and he kissed a tainted hand to get there. His fellow Democrats may...