Illinois Sen. Roland Burriss today admitted to Senate investigators that he bought his seat on eBay, after a tip from an aide to former Illinois Governor Rod Blagoyavitch that the seat would be listed on the online auction website.
"I used the Buy It Now function," Burriss told investigators at a hastily assembled Senate investigation. "I paid $11,535 for the seat. It's mine and you can't take it away from me. On eBay, a contract is a contract."
Burriss said that a Blago aide had telephoned him late on a Saturday night that the seat "would become available, in a discreet listing on eBay Motors, around 2 a.m. Sunday morning, when most other Senatorial contenders were sleeping.
"He said that if I bought the seat on eBay, it would be mine, period, end of story," Burriss said.
"If we don't have faith and trust in eBay," Burriss added, "how are we to trust any aspect of the U.S. economy? The governor has every right to dispose of the seat as he sees fit. And he saw fit to dispose it to me."
The Senate seat was actually listed as an "accessory" to Gov. Blagoyovitch's 1997 Volvo Station Wagon, which was listed on the auction website as having 135,000 miles, new tires, a new alternator and a new battery.
"I suppose anyone who bought the car would have been the Senator," Burriss mused. "But I've got both the Volvo and the position in the Senate."
Burriss said that when Gov. Blagoyovitch brought him the pink slip for the car, Burriss tipped him "a hundred fifty thousand in cash. I mean, a tip for dropping off the car was in order. It was a few miles out of the Governor's way, and it did take place at three in the morning."
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