Former Burris aide questioned in probe
PERJURY INVESTIGATION | He raised concerns about quid pro quo
SPRINGFIELD -- The Downstate perjury probe into Sen. Roland Burris has widened to include a former aide who raised questions about a possible quid pro quo between Burris and the man who appointed him, impeached Gov. Blagojevich.
John Ruff, a former aide to Burris, met with Sangamon County State's Attorney John Schmidt on March 11 as part of Schmidt's investigation into whether Burris lied to a legislative panel about his dealings with Blagojevich's inner circle before he was appointed senator.
"They made it pretty clear I was simply one person to get information from," Ruff told the Chicago Sun-Times on Monday. "They gave me no sense of how, when or if they were going to proceed."
The Chicago Sun-Times reported exclusively earlier this month about Ruff, who alleged that he had conversations with Burris' longtime confidant Fred Lebed about Lebed's efforts last fall to quietly push Burris' nomination to top associates of Blagojevich. "They wanted to hear what I had to say face-to-face based upon what was in the story you ran. They wanted to know what kind of documentation that I might have that could back up my version of events," Ruff said.
Ruff said he told Schmidt about a Dec. 30 conversation with Lebed in which Lebed allegedly informed him of Burris' appointment that day and said, "We'll have to do some things for the governor."
Ruff also said he told Schmidt about hearing Lebed allegedly recount how he had discussions as far back as October about a potential Burris appointment with lobbyist John Wyma, former Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris and lobbyist Alonzo Monk.
Ruff said he provided Schmidt with copies of e-mail exchanges with Lebed and phone bills showing conversations with him, including the one on Dec. 30 and dating as far back as October.
Lebed has characterized Ruff as a "very scary guy" who is not being truthful. Lebed's lawyer, former U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar, declined to comment Monday about Ruff's statements to Schmidt.
Burris spokeswoman Delmarie Cobb attributed Ruff's version of events to "sour grapes."