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Burris changes story on Senate seat
 | Follow-up. And no, the Trib fails to mention that he's a Democrat. |
U.S. Sen. Roland Tombstone Burris, who repeatedly denied anyone tied to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich solicited him for cash in exchange for his seat, now acknowledges Blagojevich's brother asked him three times to help with fundraising.
| Translation: he lied and he's admitting it, which is now safe to do since he has the seat and Blago is gone. |
Leading House Republicans said Saturday they plan to call on an Illinois House special investigative committee to ask the Sangamon County state's attorney's office to investigate Burris.
| Springfield being in Sangamon County. |
In an affidavit Burris quietly filed nine days ago with the head of the House committee that recommended Blagojevich's impeachment, Illinois' new junior senator also said he spoke with three close associates of the governor about being appointed to the Senate. Prior, Burris only acknowledged having spoken to one such friend.
| It's his third story and I'm betting, as an astute and close observer of Illinois politics, that it won't be his last. And he'll try to slide them in just as quietly. |
Burris said he refused the fundraising request for Blagojevich, who was removed from office after being charged Dec. 9 with corruption, including trying to sell the Senate seat Burris now holds.
The new affidavit--filed only after he was seated in Congress--is Burris' third account of what happened behind the scenes preceding Blagojevich's decision to pick him as President Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate. It also reflects a major omission he made before the panel. Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate initially refused Burris entry, but relented in part on the condition that he testify fully and openly before the House impeachment committee.
| This is Illinois: did you clowns really think he was going to testify 'fully and openly'? |
Initially, Burris stated unequivocally in an affidavit, "there was not any contact between myself or any of my representatives with Governor Blagojevich or any of his representatives" regarding the Senate appointment prior to Dec. 26, when he met with a Blagojevich attorney. But during Jan. 8 testimony before the House committee, Burris disclosed that months earlier he had expressed his interest in the Senate seat to Blagojevich's former chief of staff Lon Monk, now a state lobbyist whose activities have come under federal scrutiny.
But despite being asked specifically at the hearing if he had met with Blagojevich's brother about the Senate seat, Burris cited only his meeting with Monk.
In this newest version, Burris said he talked about his interest in the Senate seat with Blagojevich's brother, Robert, who called him three times to seek his assistance in fundraising for the then-governor. The first conversation was in early October, before Obama was elected president, and the other two were shortly after the Nov. 4 election. Burris said he told Robert Blagojevich he couldn't contribute to the governor's campaign fund "because it could be viewed as an attempt to curry favor with him regarding his decision to appoint a successor to President Obama."
Burris said he filed the affidavit "to change completely supplement my answer" to questions by the House members about what conversations he had with the governor and his associates.
| The real question is, why file the new affidavit? Is this because Fitzgerald has something new going, or was a newspaper going to reveal the information? It certainly wasn't because he had a guilty conscience or anything. |
In a statement released Saturday, Burris said he didn't disclose the facts because he "was not given the opportunity to" during the impeachment committee hearing. "I was asked to raise money by the governor's brother and made it unequivocally clear to him that it would be inappropriate and pose a major conflict because I was interested in the Senate vacancy," Burris said in the statement.
| "Especially since your brother is on the way out and couldn't get elected to streetsweeper." |
"I did not donate or help raise a single dollar for the governor from those conversations and would never consider making a donation through a third party."
Burris also disclosed in his new lie affidavit that he spoke about his interest in the Senate with three other Blagojevich insiders, Doug Scofield, John Wyma and former chief of staff John Harris, who was arrested and charged with Blagojevich.
On the day before Burris testified to the House panel, he met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nevada) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Both senators stressed the importance of Burris's testimony on whether he should be seated. "Roland Burris, to me, appears to be candid and forthright," Reid said after the meeting. "Without any hesitation, he prepared an affidavit that the impeachment committee for the Illinois state assembly already has. And he's going to go answer any other questions they might have. He's not trying to avoid any responsibility or trying to hide anything," Reid said.
Posted by: Steve White 2009-02-15 |
