US Senator Roland Burris said in a document released on Saturday that former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich’s brother asked him for campaign fundraising help before the governor appointed Burris to the Senate.
The disclosure is at odds with Burris’ testimony last month when an Illinois House impeachment committee asked if he had ever spoken to Robert Blagojevich or other aides to the now-deposed governor about the Senate seat vacated by US President Barack Obama.
Illinois State Representative Jim Durkin, the impeachment committee’s ranking Republican, said that he and House Republican Leader Tom Cross would ask yesterday for an outside investigation into whether Burris perjured himself.
Burris issued a statement on Saturday saying he voluntarily gave the committee a Feb. 4 affidavit disclosing the contact with Robert Blagojevich because “there were several facts that I was not given the opportunity to make during my testimony to the impeachment committee.”
The affidavit, released on Saturday by Burris’ office, said Robert Blagojevich called him three times — once in October and twice after the November election — to seek his fundraising assistance.
Robert Blagojevich’s attorney said his client believes one of the conversations was recorded by the FBI.
Burris, a Democrat like the former governor, said he told Robert Blagojevich he would not raise money because it would look like he was trying to win favor from the governor for his appointment. But he said he did ask the governor’s brother “what was going on with the selection of a successor” to Obama in the Senate and “he said he had heard my name mentioned in the discussions.”
In an unsolicited affidavit to the impeachment committee on Jan. 6, Burris said he had only one limited conversation with the governor before accepting the Senate appointment.
Then, appearing before the committee on Jan. 8, he said he told former Blagojevich aide-turned-lobbyist Lon Monk last summer that he was interested in the post.
The governor appointed Burris, a former state attorney general, to the Senate seat on Dec. 30, three weeks after federal agents arrested Blagojevich on a complaint alleging he had tried to trade the appointment for campaign cash or a high-paying job. The state House impeached Blagojevich and the state Senate removed him from office on Jan. 29.
Senate Democrats in Washington, including Majority Leader Harry Reid and Dick Durbin, initially said they would not seat anyone appointed by Blagojevich but eventually relented. One condition of their acceptance was Burris’ impeachment committee testimony under oath that there were no “pay-to-play” promises exchanged in his appointment.
A spokesman said Reid was reviewing the affidavit, and a spokeswoman for Durbin said on Saturday he had no comment. The White House also had no comment.
Illinois State House impeachment committee chairwoman Barbara Flynn Currie, a Democrat, said she saw the affidavit earlier this week but had not had time to share it with all committee members until now.
She said she was planning committee action but that seeking an outside investigation was premature at this point.
The affidavit discloses for the first time that Burris believes he likely told former Blagojevich advisers Doug Scofield and John Wyma of his interest in the post at a fundraiser in June and later asked about it when he spoke to Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris, who was arrested with Blagojevich on Dec. 9.
Scofield, Wyma and Harris were among the Blagojevich associates Burris was asked about in his Jan. 8 testimony by Durkin.
In response, Burris said he had spoken only to Monk.
“This wasn’t a couple of questions that I can understand someone may forget, it goes way beyond that,” Durkin said on Saturday. “To say that he wasn’t given the opportunity to explain himself is a load of B.S.”
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