Burris's son hired by Blago administration

CHICAGO, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The son of embattled U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., scored a $75,000-a-year job under former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich five months ago, sources said.

Roland W. Burris II was hired as a senior counsel for the state's housing authority in September, about six weeks after the Internal Revenue Service filed a $34,163 tax lien against him and three weeks after a mortgage company sought foreclosure on his home, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the Illinois Housing Development Authority told the Sun-Times Wednesday there was no impropriety involving the son's hiring by the agency that oversees mortgage programs for low-income home buyers and anti-foreclosure initiatives.

His hiring, however, raises questions about the senator's interactions with Blagojevich and his associates. Shortly after being arrested on federal corruption charges, Blagojevich named the elder Burris to the Senate seat vacated by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Burris is deflecting calls for his resignation and is the subject of a U.S. Senate ethics probe and a perjury investigation in Illinois, stemming from conflicting testimony he provided to an Illinois House of Representatives panel that drafted impeachment charges against Blagojevich. The governor was removed from office Jan. 29.

Authorities are investigating hiring practices of the Blagojevich administration but haven't expressed any interest in the younger Burris, Housing Development Authority spokeswoman Rebecca Boykin tolf the Sun-Times.