CHICAGO — Illinois’ embattled governor complained through his spokesman Saturday that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is guilty of a conflict of interest in that Reid telephoned him in December to discuss the seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Lucio Guerrero, spokesman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, said he didn’t know firsthand which candidates the Nevada Democrat supported during the call but said he knows Reid’s candidates did not include Roland Burris, the man the governor picked for Obama’s seat.
“I think the governor believes there is a conflict of interest — that Reid showed he has a horse in the race and Roland Burris wasn’t one of them,” Guerrero said.
In an e-mail to The Associated Press, Reid spokesman Jim Manley confirmed the majority leader called Blagojevich on Dec. 3 — six days before the governor’s arrest on federal corruption charges — to talk about the vacancy.
Manley declined to name the candidates discussed, saying there was “no need to embarrass the people that were subject of the conversation.” Manley added that Reid also spoke to the New York and Colorado governors about openings created when senators from those states accepted Obama administration jobs. The Associated Press
