Burris admits trying to raise money for Blago
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| Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), leaves a press conference Monday outside Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago. (AP photo) |
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SPRINGFIELD – Sen. Roland Burris now acknowledges attempting to raise money for ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich – an explosive twist in the story of how he landed his Senate appointment from the man accused of trying to sell President Barack Obama's open seat.
Burris made the admission to reporters on Monday, after releasing a sworn statement over the weekend saying he had more contact with Blagojevich aides about the Senate seat than he had described under oath to a panel that recommended Blagojevich's impeachment.
The Democrat also said in the statement, but not before the panel, that the governor's brother asked him for fundraising help.
Though Burris insists he never raised money forBlagojevich while the governor was considering whom to appoint to the seat Obama vacated when he won the presidency, the revelation that he had attempted to do so is likely to increase calls for Burris' resignation and an investigation into whether he committed perjury before the panel.
Illinois Democrats have forwarded documents related to Burris' testimony to a prosecutor for review.
Burris would not answer questions Tuesday about his attempts to raise funds for Blagojevich, but said he didn't do anything wrong and encouraged officials to look into the matter.
"I welcome the opportunity to go before any and all investigative bodies, including those referred by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the Senate ethics committee to answer any questions they have," he told reporters Tuesday.
After an event Monday night in Peoria, Burris told reporters that he had reached out to friends after Blagojevich's brother, Robert, called him before Obama's election asking him to raise $10,000 or $15,000 for the governor.
"So some time shortly after Obama was elected, the brother called," Burris said, according to a transcript posted on the Chicago Tribune's Web site. "And now in the meantime, I'd talked to some people about trying to see if we could put a fundraiser on. Nobody was — they said, 'We aren't giving money to the governor.' And I said, 'OK, you know, I can't tell them what to do with their money.'"
Burris said he left open the possibility that he and his business partner could go to others for money.
He reiterated that he never did end up donating to the governor or holding a fundraiser, and said that he told Robert Blagojevich in a later conversation that he couldn't raise money because he was interested in the Senate seat. Burris, however, had already discussed the Senate seat with aides to the governor, including Robert Blagojevich, before the Novemberelection.
Burris is in the midst of a previously scheduled tour of northern and central Illinois cities as he listens to constituents' concerns.
Lawmakers of both parties have said Burris should resign after he admitted over the weekend that he had talked to several aides of the governor before getting the Senate post. During his testimony before the panel, he said he remembered talking only to one aide about the seat and did not say he was asked for campaign donations.
The new statement submitted to the impeachment panel indicated contact not only with Robert Blagojevich, but with Blagojevich's former chief of staff John Harris and two other close friends — all of whom Burris had been specifically asked about by the committee's top Republican.
"You would think those would be the kind of people you'd remember you had a conversation with," said Illinois Rep. Gary Hannig, a Democrat.
Burris initially told the impeachment committee he had only a brief conversation with Rod Blagojevich, a fellow Democrat, before he was named to the seat Dec. 30. In testimony before the committee Jan. 8, he added that he had discussed the seat with a longtime Blagojevich friend last summer.
U.S. Senate Democrats initially refused to seat Burris because he had been appointed by Blagojevich, who had been arrested three weeks earlier on federal charges he tried to profit from the Senate appointment. But they relented, setting as a condition Burris' impeachment committee testimony.
